Belmont's Maya Johnson was simply untouchable on Thursday afternoon in Carbondale, striking out the first eight Illinois State batters she faced en route to a dominant 17-strikeout, two-hit shutout as Belmont blanked the Redbirds 4-0 to advance in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Johnson's historic outing set the tone from the very first pitch. Her eight consecutive strikeouts to open the game represent the second-most consecutive strikeouts in MVC Tournament history, and her 17 total punchouts stand as the most in a seven-inning MVC Tournament game since 2001 and the most in any tournament game — regardless of length — since 2010. 



The only Illinois State baserunners to reach scoring position came in the fourth inning, when Lauren Flowers and Bella Atkinson reached on singles and both advanced on a passed ball, but Johnson slammed the door without surrendering a run. She needed just 90 pitches to complete the gem, improving her record to an eye-popping 26-2 on the season.

Belmont's offense did just enough to support their ace. Madison Dolecki got the Bruins on the board with a solo home run to left field in the fourth inning, and a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Lauren Luciani made it 2-0 before the frame was over. The Bruins added two more insurance runs in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Emily Konz and an RBI single by Rylee Spindler, capping the scoring at 4-0. Brenna Blume had a big day behind the plate and at the plate, collecting two hits, while Lydia Vanderwoude added a double among Belmont's eight hits on the day.

With the victory, Belmont — now 38-11 overall — advances to face the winner of Southern Illinois and Murray State on Friday. Illinois State, meanwhile, turns around quickly to face UNI in an elimination game later Thursday evening.