Southern Illinois University
Illinois St.
Salukis Drop Series Opener to Illinois State, 5-4
04/13/2001 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
April 13, 2001
Southern Illinois University Carbondale (13-21, 7-10 MVC) lost the opener of a crucial four game series to Illinois State University (13-15, 5-7 in MVC) 5-4 at Abe Martin Field on Friday, April 13.
"It's too bad we ended the game with a batter in the box and the tying run getting thrown out at second base. We made poor decisions on the bases, didn't play good defense in the outfield, struck out too many times and didn't pitch well with the lead or after our mistakes," said Dan Callahan, Saluki head coach.
Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth, the Salukis rallied for two runs behind doubles by Justin Maurath and Roman Schooley, a single by Jeff Stanek and a sacrifice fly by Sal Frisella to cut the lead to 5-4.
John Clem, a reserve infielder, was sent in to pinch run for Stanek representing the tying run. With two outs in the ninth, Clem was thrown out trying to steal after Illinois State catcher Greg Blaesing blocked and bobbled a tough pitch to handle before gathering the ball and throwing Clem out to end the game.
The Salukis jumped out to a 2-0 lead after three innings behind an RBI single by Stanek in the second and a sacrifice fly by Scott Hankey in the third.
The Redbirds tied the game on a two run home run by Mike Saunches in the fourth inning and scored three runs in the sixth on four hits and a two base outfield error to give pitcher Neal Cotts the winning run.
Cotts (5-1, 2.47 era) pitched a complete game for the win. He allowed nine hits, four runs (all earned), struck out nine and walked none in his nine innings of work.
SIU's Josh Latimer (2-4, 4.92 era) suffered the loss. He allowed nine hits, five runs (four earned), struck out four and walked two in five and two thirds innings. Jerel Deitering pitched three and one third innings of strong relief, allowing no hits, no runs, no walks and striking out two Redbirds.
The Salukis play ISU in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 14 at 12 p.m at Abe Martin Field and will wrap up the series with a single game Sunday, April 15 at 1 p.m.
