Normal, Ill. – Southern Illinois claimed its second consecutive Missouri Valley Tournament Championship Saturday afternoon with a 3-2 comeback win over No.2 Northern Iowa. The Salukis are declared the 2024 undisputed MVC champions as they become the first team since 2019 to win both the regular season and tournament championship.
The Dawgs fell behind early after a pair of solo home runs in the first inning. Maddia Groff gave up four hits while striking out three through the first inning and a third before being replaced by 2023 MVC Tournament MVP Madi Eberle.
Eberle came in and shut down the Panthers for the remaining five plus innings as she started her afternoon working out of a jam in the second inning. Madi finished the day going 5.1 innings while giving up just two hits and five strikeouts.
The Panthers threatened for much of the game however as they drew nine walks but each time Eberle was able to get herself out of each inning without allowing a run. She earned the win and improved to 11-6 as she was named to the MVC All-Tournament Team.
Southern was able to make it a one run game in the second after Sidney Jones doubled and was moved to third before scoring on a Bailey Caylor RBI single. Jones broke out in the championship game for the Salukis after going hitless in the first two rounds. She went 3-for-3 with three doubles and the game-winning RBI.
Senior Rylie Hamilton made game changing plays on both offense and defense in the championship win over UNI. Hamilton hit a solo shot in the third inning to make it a 2-2 game as she sent one out over the right center wall on a 1-2 count, giving the Saluki dugout a spark.
As the Salukis continued to be cautious the Panther order, Madi Eberle and the defense continued to make play after play when needed as UNI was 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Three of Eberle’s strikeouts came in the fifth inning as she struck out the first batter before walking the next two. With two on, Eberle went on to strike out the next two batters and send the Salukis into the bottom half with a lot of momentum.
Jones broke the 2-2 tie in the fifth inning with her third double of the day on a gapper to left center field, scoring Jackie Lis from second. SIU took its first lead of the day in the fifth inning with two outs to make it 3-2. Lis started the inning with a single before making it to second on a deep flyout to right field by Hamilton.
Threatening again in the sixth, third basemen Rylie Hamilton fielded a grounded ball and was able to step on the bag and throw a dart across the field to get the Salukis out the inning with a double play as UNI had a runner on a first and second. Hamilton has now turned double plays in back-to-back games as she was named to the MVC All-Tournament Team as well.
Eberle came back into the circle in the seventh and earned her second consecutive MVC Tournament Championship win as well as her second-straight win of the tournament.
Anna Carder had a big day for the Dawgs as she went 2-for-2 with a double and a walk, reaching base in all three at-bats. Carder made her first start of the tournament after having a very key single in the seventh inning of the win over Illinois State on Friday. She ended the tournament going 3-for-3, each hit being a big one.
Madi Eberle, Maddia Groff, and Rylie Hamilton were all named to the MVC All-Tournament Team as Elizabeth Warwick was named Tournament MVP as she finished the weekend with two walk-offs and six RBIs totaled in the first two rounds.
This season marks just the second time in program history that a team has won both the MVC regular season and MVC Tournament, with the last being in 1991.
SIU receives its second-straight automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They will play Cal at the Baton Rouge Regional, where #9 LSU and Jackson State will also compete. SIU and Cal play at 2:30pm on Friday.
