EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Lauryn Yslava scored from second base on a sacrifice fly to deep right field by Emma Henderson as SIUE softball defeated Tennessee Tech 10-9 in a 14-inning contest at Cougar Field.
The 4-hour, 11-minute game equaled the longest game in Division I this season, matching a Louisville-Notre Dame held last Sunday.
SIUE is now off to a league-leading 6-0 start in the Ohio Valley Conference and holds a 15-10 record overall. Tennessee Tech dropped to 7-18 overall and 1-15 in the OVC.
The two teams combined for 34 hits with the Golden Eagles holding an 18-16 edge.
After neither team had scored since the sixth innings, Tennessee Tech tallied two runs in the top of the 14th on RBI hits by Sydney Kirby and Ashley Capelouto.
The Cougars wasted little time in the bottom of the 14th with a base hit by Kaylin Fahy to right field. Madison Kearns stepped up as a pinch hitter and delivered a double down the left field line off the Tennnessee Tech third baseman's glove. With runners at second and third, Yslava ripped her fifth hit of the game, a two-run single to right field off reliever Hannah Lange. Kaylynn Salyars then drew a walk.
With no one out, Yslava stood at second and Salyars was at first.
Emma Henderson launched a ball to deep right field for the first out. Instead of settling for advancing from second to third, Yslava never stopped running until she slid into home for the game winner.
McKayla Anderson started the game and was the winner but after a re-entry in the 14th inning. Anderson had been lifted as the starter and replaced by Kiana Villa who threw more than 140 pitches over nine innings of relief. Anderson re-entered in the 14th and picked up the final two outs of the inning.
Eight different Cougars accounted for the 16 SIUE hits. Yslava led SIUE with a career-high five. Salyars had four and Fahy finished with two.
After six games in six days in which the Cougars went 5-1, SIUE is now idle until next weekend when it travels to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for a three-game series at Southeast Missouri.
