The Redhawks defeated the SIU Salukis by a score of 9-0 in four and a half innings at home April 11.

The Redhawks entered the game with a six game win streak, losing their last game to the Salukis on March 28 by a score of 6-7.

The momentum of the win streak showed early as after a pair of walks, senior shortstop Alyson Tucker hit a three run home run, to give the Redhawks a 3-0 lead after the first inning.

“I was just looking for something down that I could hopefully stay on top of in order to score the runner on second and it just so happened that that was a pretty good pitch,” Tucker said.

Tucker leads the current lineup in batting average with a .347 average, and in RBI’s holding 27, which is twelve more than her closest teammate.

“I go in there and just look to put the ball in play, I don’t want to let the pitcher beat me,” Tucker said.

The second inning continued in the same fashion, with the Redhawks scoring two runs, after the Saluki outfield failed to catch a pop fly, extending the Redhawks lead to 5.

The third inning went largely the same as the Redhawks loaded the bases off of a hit by junior infielder Kenzie Wrigley and a pair of walks, then drove all three runners in after sophomore outfielder Jillian Anderson hit a bases clearing double, scoring three more runs.

In the fourth inning one more run was scored, and after half an inning the run-ahead rule was put in effect and the game was stopped, giving the Redhawks a 9-0 win.

Although the hitting seemed to be the highlight of the game, the pitching was noteworthy as well, as senior pitcher Marisa Davis allowed no runs, two hits, and struck out three batters.

“I just worked with my screwball, and got ahead with my drop ball. Usually they didn’t swing at the first pitch so I was trying to get ahead on the first pitch. May as well get a free strike,” said Davis, after her eighth win of the season.

The win today brings the Redhawks to 27 wins at home in a row, and they have won 11 of their last 12 games, and are first in the OVC standings.

“I thought we played really really well, we played solid and it was a really good day for us,” said head coach Mark Redburn in reaction to the game today.

Redburn said the Redhawks win was a combination of both good pitching and good hitting.

“Early on I thought our pitching was doing really well for us, and our hitting was not there yet, but over the course of the time of getting some games in, our hitting is really coming around, I think that we have really found our flow here with our group,” Coach Redburn said.

The Redhawks next matchup will be with fellow OVC competitor Lindenwood. Redburn said who they are playing is not their concern, but how they perform is.

“I always tell our players, it doesn’t really matter who we’re playing, because we’re always playing against the game. We have to do our thing, and that’s what we gotta be focused on and not get to caught up on where they’re at in the conference standings, to us it doesn’t matter, we’re gonna go play against the game and do what we need to do,” Redburn said.

The softball team’s next game is Saturday against Lindenwood, the first of a three game series, at 4 p.m. in St. Charles, MO.