The Billiken softball team is ready to play.
Setting two Billiken Sports Center records on Tuesday, the Saint
Louis University softball team dominated Eastern Illinois 9-1 and
5-1, setting records with nine runs in the first game and 13 hits
in the second.
“We put hits together when we needed them, we executed,” said
senior right fielder Melissa Quist.
Starting off strong, the Billikens scored four runs in the
bottom of the first inning. Shortstop Ashlee Heady got the ball
rolling with a two-run homerun that was followed by two more runs
by AshLeigh Williams and Logan Justice after a hit by Justice
rolled by the right fielder for an error. After the first inning,
the game belonged to the Billikens, which included two triples by
Justice, the first SLU softball player to hit two triples in a
single game since 1987. Freshman pitcher Elizabeth Nielsen capped
the game with six strike outs and gave up just four hits to give
her a fifth win on the season.
For the Billikens, the second game was not much different. Eight
of nine starters collected hits, four players with more than one,
and starting pitcher Kristin Rossi struck out two, gave up no
earned runs and allowed eight hits on the night and picked up her
first win. Additionally, on the offensive side, Kerri Higgins
knocked her first career home run to complement Williams’ homer in
the fourth inning.
“Rossi did really well pitching the second game,” Quist
said.
Coach Jim Molloy referred to the Billikens greatest success as
“overall performance, it’s the group that strives to complement
each other and be successful through being able to depend up on
each other.”
After losing vital seniors last year, the Billikens look to rely
more upon the incoming freshman this season.
exception. It’s just a big transition but they are transitioning
well and will be very beneficial for this program,” Molloy said.
The freshmen include Jenna Renner of Belleville, Ill., Jill Pursell
and Allison Appenfeller from Kansas, Christy Ernst out of St. Louis
and finally pitcher Elizabeth Nielsen out of Colorado.
Not only are the freshmen coming together well, but the seniors
continue to contribute on and off the field. “I have five seniors,
and they are good players and good leaders, and I expect them to
prove the leadership necessary,” Molloy said. Senior captains Rossi
and Kerri Higgins made significant contributions on Tuesday,
Higgins finishing with three hits on the evening and Rossi
collecting the win in the second game.
Looking toward the rest of the season, Molloy hopes “to continue
on with the improvement of the program, have a winning season, and
make the conference tournament.” To be successful, Molloy called
for “continued unity and the ability to rebound from any setbacks
and I think they are very good at that.”
“Our team goals are to work together as a team and do the best
that we can, support each other when we need each other and show
the conference that we are a good team and we are ready to come out
and play,” Quist said.
After three-straight wins, the Billikens now stand at 6-5 on the
season. The Billikens have won three games in a row and are now
looking to take their momentum on the road to Southern Miss this
Saturday where, according to Malloy, the competition is sure to be
more demanding.
“Southern Miss is always a tough opponent certainly,” Molloy
said, “but it will be both of our first C-USA tournaments. I expect
them to be as good as they have been in the past years.”
