Southern Illinois University
Bradley
Baseball Splits With Bradley
04/12/2003 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
April 12, 2003
Peoria, Ill. - Southern Illinois (19-14, 10-4) registered a total of 24 hits en route to a split with Bradley (14-16, 5-8) earlier today at O'Brien Field. The Salukis took game one, 8-3, before dropping the nightcap, 6-2.
SIU's offense stymied BU with 14 hits to open the doubleheader. Hitting safely in each of the game's seven innings, Saluki hitters drove in three of their runs in two-out situations.
To complement the hit parade, the Dawgs scored in nearly every inning as well. In fact, the only time SIU didn't push a run across was in the sixth. Not to mention, the efficient attack led to a pair of runs in both the first and last innings of the game.
RBI-singles by Toby Barnett and Nathan Boldt helped give SIU a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Boldt's two-out hit drove home Sal Frisella, while Barnett's rip scored P.J. Finigan.
A two-out RBI single by Ross Kowzan extended SIU's lead to 3-0 in the second, before the Braves used a pair of singles by Ross Vandehey and Steve Strickler to score two runs.
Still ahead 3-2, SIU countered the BU threat with consecutive singles by Frisella and Barnett in the top of the third. Peorian Greg Andrews then grounded into a double play which enabled Frisella to score easily, giving the Dawgs a 4-2 advantage.
The Saluki lead just kept on expanding. In the fourth, Matt Brewer reached on a leadoff single and came home on a two-out, stand-up triple by Kowzan.
After the Braves added what turned out to be their final run of the game in the bottom of the fourth, a two-out error by shortstop Jason Morelock let Andrews score with ease in the fifth. Prior to the miscue, Andrews had doubled and advanced to third on a ground ball out by Boldt.
Now holding a lead of 6-3, SIU polished off its victory with a ferocious two-run rally in the seventh. A second double by Andrews led things off and he immediately scored thanks to back-to-back singles by Boldt and Josh Markle.
Following his RBI-hit, Markle advanced to second on a Brewer SAC-bunt and moved to third on a wild pitch. On the ensuing play, Frisella sealed the 8-3 win with a sacrifice fly to right.
Left-hander Bryan Rueger, who forced the Braves to leave 10 runners on base, moved to a perfect 4-0 on the season. Rueger, struck out three batters, while scattering seven hits in four innings.
Meanwhile, Brock Till (2-4) suffered the loss for BU. Till was tagged for 13 hits and eight runs in a six-inning span. He also issued four walks.
The bottom half of BU's lineup dominated the nightcap. Seven, eight and nine hitters Jason Newburger (2-for-4), Brian LaJeone (1-for-2) and Brian Meischner (1-for-2) joined forces to go 4-for-8 with five runs scored two home runs, a double and three RBI.
Five of the BU's 11 hits, however, came in the bottom of the fifth, where SIU starter Andrew Weber broke down. Weber, who overthrew first base on a SAC-bunt by LaJeone, also gave up a single to Newburger and a two-base hit to Meischner that loaded the bases with no outs.
Three straight hits by Ryan Kenny, Steve Strickler and Dan Puente also played a part in the four-run ambush which fueled the 6-2 win.
Freshman Collin Walker (3-4) pitched the distance en route to his third win on the hill. Walker allowed just two runs, gave up 10 hits and struck out six in the nine-inning period.
Weber fell to 1-3 after giving up eight hits and five runs in 4.2 frames. he also struck out three.
Kowzan led the Salukis with five hits on the day. The native of DuQuoin, Ill., went 5-for-9 with a run scored a double, a triple and two RBI. Andrews and Boldt followed with four hits each, while Finigan registered three. Barnett, who went 2-for-4 in game one, saw his hitting streak end at 19 games after going 0-for-4 in the nightcap.
Jason Morelock had the best day at the plate for the Braves. Morelock went 6-for-8 with a double.
The Salukis and Braves will conclude their four-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m.
