ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- SIU-Edwardsville head coach Sandy Montgomery won the 900th game of her 26-year career Wednesday afternoon as the Cougars defeated Saint Louis 4-1 at the Billiken Sports Complex.
Montgomery is the 39th head coach in the history of NCAA softball to reach the 900-win plateau and has earned all of her wins at SIUE. Her 900 wins are the 15th-most among active NCAA Division I head coaches.
"This is all about the coaching staffs and players that I've had over the years," Montgomery said. "The head coach gets the credit a lot of the time, but without everyone else contributing it wouldn't be possible. There's been a lot of players who have put a lot of time and effort into this program during my time here."
The Cougars (16-18) earned the victory on the back of a strong pitching performance from senior Erin Greenwalt, who allowed one run on four hits while striking out seven SLU batters. It was the Glen Carbon native's fifth complete-game victory of the season.
"I was happy with my performance today," Greenwalt said. "I've been struggling a little bit the last couple weeks. I worked on my command, made some adjustments, and it paid off."
Greenwalt cruised through the first three innings before working out of a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom of the fourth inning. She took a no-hitter into the fifth, but the Billikens' Hailey Weavers broke it up with a double to center field.
At the plate, SIUE got out to a quick lead in the top of the first inning when third baseman Alex McDavid singled through the right side for Chelsea Yankolovich to score her team-leading 21st run of the season.
"It's important to get an early run like that and set the tone early," McDavid said after the game. "When you're on the road, some early insurance helps the pitcher play more loose and relaxed."
The visitors tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning, with Rachel Coonrod providing a two-out RBI single that drove in Whitney Lanphier and Rebecca Gray.
Yankolovich would add one more insurance run in the seventh inning, knocking an RBI single up the middle to score Rachel Keller.
"Chelsea played very well today," Montgomery said. "She set the tone early, and we got some timely hits after that. That's what you need to win."
Weavers got a run back for SLU in the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run to right center, but that's all the hosts would get.
