Southern Illinois University
Missouri St.
Southwest Missouri State Drops SIU in Series Opener, 8-5
04/20/2001 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
April 20, 2001
Southern Illinois University Carbondale (14-25, 8-13 MVC) lost the series opener 8-5 to Southwest Missouri State University (24-13, 12-5 MVC) despite taking a 5-2 lead into the seventh inning against the Bears undefeated pitcher Brad Zeigler (7-0) on Friday, April 20 at Abe Martin Field.
"That's a tough loss. I'm discouraged in how we loss. We let a good pitcher (Zeigler) and team off the hook. I thought we should have won that game," stated Dan Callahan, Saluki head coach.
"We did a good job on offense against a good pitcher. Our offense gave us a chance to win. We didn't do a good job against their bottom two hitters (5-for-9, 3-RBIs, run), we did a bad job on the mound especially in the seventh on lefty vs lefty matchups and the seventh inning started on a routine ball that we threw away because we let our emotions get the best of us," added Callahan.
Leading 5-2 in the top of the seventh, Ryan Murray made an error on a routine ground ball and SMS scored four runs on three hits to take the lead 6-5 and chase Saluki starter Josh Latimer (2-5). The Bears added two runs in the ninth against SIU closer Scott Lucht to put the game away. The Salukis allowed four unearned runs (six total runs) in the final three innings to lose the lead and the game to the Bears.
SIU trailed 1-0 before taking the lead with two runs in second inning on a single, an error, a passed ball, a ground ball and an RBI triple by Sal Frisella.
The Salukis scored a run in the third on an error, a single, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Roman Schooley, picked up a run in the fourth on a single and an RBI double by Jeff Stanek, and increased the lead to 5-2 on Scott Hankey?s first home run of the year in the sixth before the Bears battled back.
SIU was led by Scott Hankey (3-for-4, home run, three runs, RBI), Cory Newman (2-for-5, run), Sal Frisella (1-for-3, triple, RBI) and Roman Schooley (1-for-3, RBI).
The Salukis will continue the series with a Saturday doubleheader at 12 p.m. and the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Abe Martin Field.
