CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Belmont University Softball team (38–11, 21–5 MVC) opened the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with a dominant 4–0 shutout victory over Illinois State University Thursday afternoon in Carbondale.
After suffering just her second loss of the season to Illinois State in the teams' previous series matchup, Maya Johnson responded with one of the most dominant pitching performances in MVC Tournament history. The senior opened the game with eight consecutive strikeouts and finished with 17 total strikeouts in the complete-game shutout.
Johnson's 17 strikeouts tied for the second-most in MVC Tournament history, marked the most strikeouts in a seven-inning conference tournament game since 2001, and were the most in any MVC Tournament game since 2010. She improved to 26–2 on the season while recording her 13th shutout of the year as Belmont earned its 17th team shutout this season.
VS Illinois State – (4–0)
Belmont broke through in the fourth inning behind the bat of Madison Dolecki, who launched a solo home run to left field to give the Bruins a 1–0 lead.
The offense continued to build momentum later in the inning after Lydia Vanderwoude doubled to right field and Brenna Blume followed with a single through the left side. Addison Swink entered as a pinch runner and advanced into scoring position before Lauren Luciani delivered a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing home Vanderwoude and extending the lead to 2–0.
The Bruins added insurance runs in the sixth inning. Blume started the frame with another single before Ella Bertucci reached on a base hit to center field. Following a wild pitch that moved both runners into scoring position, Emily Konz lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Blume and make it 3–0.
Later in the inning, Rylee Spindler added an RBI single up the middle to plate Bertucci and cap Belmont's scoring at 4–0.
Inside the circle, Johnson completely controlled the game from start to finish. The senior allowed just two hits with no walks across seven innings while striking out 17 on only 90 pitches.
Up Next
The Bruins will face either Southern Illinois University or Murray State University Friday, May 8 at 12 p.m. CT at Charlotte West Stadium for a chance to advance to the MVC Tournament Championship game.
Games will stream on ESPN+ with live stats available through GoBelmontBruins.com.
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