Southern Illinois University Edwardsville got in an extra inning of work and won its NCAA Division II softball tournament opener Thursday.
Playing nearly 24 hours after it was originally scheduled because of heavy rains on its home field, SIUE defeated West Virginia State 6-5 in eight innings to advance in the winners' bracket of the Great Lakes Regional.
Nicole Beecher delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning as the No. 7-ranked Cougars improved their record to 46-9. SIUE won its 19th consecutive game and next faces Wayne State in a winners' bracket game at 1 p.m. today.
West Virginia State (41-15) took a 3-1 lead in the top of the third with RBI hits from Margaret Osborne and Bobbi Harper. SIUE tied it in the bottom of the third on RBI hits by Kaeleigh Rousey and Mallory Ruggles.
The game remained tied until the seventh when West Virginia State center fielder Casey Jo Crawford drove in pinch-runner Katelin Thomas with a one-out single. SIUE sent the game into extra innings when Lindsay Longfellow singled home pinch-runner Carly Wildenradt.
West Virginia State scored once more in the top of the seventh off SIUE hurler Kaitlin Colosimo. The Cougar junior, who was named the Great Lakes Region's Pitcher of the Year, struck out 11 in the eight-inning game.
