April 18, 2000

Box Score

St. Louis - The last time Jennifer Riva pitched against Southern Illinois, she tossed a one-hitter but was the hard-luck loser in a 1-0 loss in Carbondale. For six innings on Tuesday, it appeared that she might get her revenge for that tough loss. Saint Louis led the Salukis 1-0 going into the top of the seventh after getting just three hits, but SIU tied the game in the seventh and scored two more in the top of the eighth inning to escape 3-1.

The Billikens grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the second. Janet Venorsky singled to leadoff the inning and moved to second on Meredith Henry's sac bunt. Adrie Bogaars drilled a ball to second and Venorsky came around to give SLU the lead. It appeared that the one run just might be enough for Riva. She gave up a single to Netty Hallahan in the second and did not allow another hit until the sixth. The Billikens make two outstanding defensive plays to keep the Salukis off the board. In the second, Hallahan tried to score on a fly ball to left field, but Beth Puttcamp gunned her down with a one-hop throw to SLU catcher Katie Duffin. With the bases loaded in the sixth, Venorsky dived to stop a shot by Erin Stremsterfer and flipped the ball to Jamie Hayden to end the threat. However, Jamie Campbell led off the seventh with a triple and scored on a sac fly. In the seventh, SIU used three singles and a walk to push across two runs for the victory. Venorsky went two-for-three in the game for SLU.

In game two, the Salukis saw six-straight batters reach and score as they sent 11 hitters to the plate in the decisive second inning. The Billikens grabbed the lead once again with a run in the bottom of the first. Janet Venorsky singled to push Jeffrey to third. Jeffrey would score on Meredith Henry's RBI single. After SIU's took a 6-1 lead, the Salukis added two more runs in the fourth and the Billikens could not counter. Henry and Venorsky both had two hits, but the rest of the Bills combined for just two more hits.

The Billikens fall to 8-32 on the season while SIU-Carbondale ups its record to 34-16. Saint Louis travels to Chicago to take on DePaul for three games. A doubleheader begins on Friday at noon with a single game on Saturday at 11 am.