GAME RESULTS
Game 1 – Saint Louis 4, Western Illinois 1
Game 2 – Saint Louis 11, Western Illinois 3 (6 innings)
Saturday, March 19, 2022
Billiken Sports Center
St. Louis, Mo.
 
THE BASICS
•Sadie Wise became Saint Louis softball's career hits leader, and the Billikens swept Western Illinois 4-1 and 11-3 in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the Billiken Sports Center.
•Wise now has 226 hits in a Billiken uniform, topping the previous mark of 225 set by Kristin Nicoletti (2008-11). The record-breaking hit occurred in the third inning of game two, a scorching line drive clearly headed to right field that hit baserunner Gabbie Kowalik for an out. However, the scoring rules stipulate that when a batted ball strikes a baserunner, a base hit is awarded if it is determined that the batter earned a hit.
•SLU improved to 9-13, while Western Illinois fell to 4-19.
 
GAME 1 – HOW IT HAPPENED
•The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Kayla Swiderski's two-out RBI single gave Saint Louis the lead.
•Western Illinois answered with a run in the fifth.
•Cami Newbanks delivered a pinch-hit RBI single in the sixth to score what proved to be the winning run. Jane Kaniecki and Kendall Johnson followed with an RBI double and an RBI infield single, respectively – both with two outs – to provide insurance.
 
GAME 1 – BILLIKEN NOTABLES
•Taylor Hochman went the distance in the circle for her second win of the season. Hochman allowed only three hits and fanned four.
•Johnson added a double and Swiderski tacked on a single to register two-hit games.
•Wise collected a double, while Kristi Stevenson and Allie Herron had a single apiece.
 
GAME 2 – HOW IT HAPPENED
•The Billikens erupted for six runs in the second inning. Jocelyn Abbott began the scoring carousel with a two-run double, and Johnson's RBI single made it 3-0. Natalie Sullivan doubled in a run, while Stevenson registered an RBI single and scored the final run of the inning on a passed ball.
•SLU plated a run in the fourth on a throwing error.
•Western Illinois struck for three runs in the fifth.
•The Billikens responded with three tallies in their half of the fifth. Kowalik hit her third home run of the season, a two-run shot, and Herron swatted her first homer of the year, a solo blast.
•Stevenson's RBI single in the sixth gave Saint Louis the run-rule victory.
 
GAME 2 – BILLIKEN NOTABLES
•Nine players combined for the Billikens' season-high 12 hits.
•Abbott and Sullivan added a single apiece to join Stevenson as Billikens with two hits.
•Kaniecki and Grace Kmak each had a single.
•Starter Chloe Wendling (7-5) chalked up her fifth straight victory. Wendling tossed four scoreless innings, striking out three while yielding just two hits and one walk.
•Calli Sutcliffe pitched a perfect sixth inning.
 
UP NEXT
The Billikens play a single game at Missouri State Tuesday, March 22, at 4 p.m.