Box Score EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Despite a rain delay that lasted just shy of 90 minutes, the SIUE softball team secured a 3-0 shutout victory over Southeast Missouri Sunday afternoon to complete a three-game series sweep of the Redhawks.
"We got the sweep, which is what's most important," Head Coach Sandy Montgomery said. "It was a little ugly today. We didn't hit exceptionally well but we were able to get some timely hits when we needed them."
The Cougars (20-18, 12-3 OVC) got another strong pitching performance from ace Haley Chambers while sophomore Rachel Keller drove in all three runs for SIUE.
SIUE has now gone 8-1 in the month of April with six of those wins coming in conference play.
A day after tossing the third no-hitter of her collegiate career, Chambers dominated the Redhawks once again with a complete-game shutout. The sophomore allowed no runs on four hits while posting 11 strikeouts, giving her 22 K's on the weekend.
"Haley wasn't her sharpest today but you can't complain with her performance," Montgomery said. "When you have 11 strikeouts and only give up four hits, you're doing something right."
Keller, who got her first start of OVC play at second base, led the Cougars offensively by going 2-2 with three RBIs.
The Bethlato, Ill., native put SIUE on the board in the second inning with a two-out RBI single that plated Kayla Riggs and Brittany Toney. Keller would provide another insurance run in the fifth inning, ripping a single up the middle to score Rebecca Gray.
"Rachel stepped in and did a great job for us at second base," Montgomery said. "She drove in all three runs for us and had a great day overall."
The Cougars will complete a five-game homestand when they welcome local rival Saint Louis to Cougar Field Tuesday at 4 p.m. SIUE and SLU faced one another last Wednesday, with the visiting Cougars earning a 4-1 victory in Montgomery's 900th career victory as SIUE head coach.
"Saint Louis is a good team," Montgomery added. "We were able to beat them at their place last week with a good start from Erin Greenwalt, but we just want to keep this going and keep getting better."
