Southern Illinois University
20-27-1
Saint Louis
13-36
Baseball Downs Saint Louis, 5-1
05/12/2004 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 12, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
SAUGET, Ill. - Nathan Emrick went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and Bryan Rueger picked up his first win on the mound to lead Southern Illinois (20-27-1) to a 5-1 win over Saint Louis (13-36) earlier tonight in the Hoosier Wood Bat Classic at GMC Stadium.
SLU right-hander Joe Buehler started strong by fanning four of SIU's first seven batters of the game. After retiring all seven of those Saluki hitters, Buehler would get into a two-out, two-baserunner jam in the third, but used another strikeout to escape the mess.
Buehler ran into trouble again in the fourth, and this time, he couldn't regroup. Buehler hit lead off man Nathan Emrick on his second pitch of the inning. Emrick stole second and took third on the same play when catcher Bill Musselman's throw sailed into center field. Shortly after Greg Andrews walked, Nathan Boldt plated Emrick on a base knock to right.
The fourth inning would be the end for Buehler, who was relieved by Adam Schroeder in the fifth.
Schroeder was immediately touched for three hits, including two in the sixth, where SIU had the bases loaded with no outs.
Emrick led things off with a single to right and went to second on a Andrews walk. On the next play, Boldt bunted down the third base line and Patrick Valdez mis-played the ball. Everyone advanced safely courtesy of the error.
In what had all the makings for a huge inning, SIU only came away with one run when Erik Alvarez delivered a one-out single to give the Salukis a 2-0 lead.
With the way southpaw Rueger pitched in the first five innings of the game, it appeared as though SIU wouldn't need more than those two runs to put the Billikens away. But after Kyle Wort drew a lead off walk and scored on a one-out double by Valdez in the seventh, things all of the sudden got interesting. Prior to Valdez's two-base hit, Scott Peden was hit by a pitch. Then, Tim Landy walked and the Billikens had the bases loaded with one out.
P.J. Finigan, however, beared down and posted struck out back-to-back Billikens to end the threat. Finigan caught Musselman looking on a 3-2 count, before whiffing Aaron Thompson.
Holding a tight one-run (2-1), the momentum from the dramatic seventh rubbed off on the Saluki offense, who answered with another run in the bottom half of that inning to go along with two more runs in the eighth which sealed the 5-1 win.
Rueger picked up his first win and moved to 1-3 on the year. In his first start on the mound since Mar. 9, Rueger gave up just three hits and allowed only three baserunners in five innings. Even more impressive than that was how none of those runners made it past first base. Additionally, he registered a pair of strikeouts.
Buehler remained winless for the Billikens as he dropped to 0-5. He finished with seven strikeouts in four innings.
In addition to Emrick, Kevin Koski also had two hits to lead SIU, while Andrews, Boldt, Alvarez and Cory Newman rounded out the hitting with one hit apiece.
SIU returns home to play its final home series of the season. The Salukis will host Wisconsin-Milwaukee in a three-game series beginning Friday at 3 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rueger, Bryan (1-3)
L: Buehler (0-5)
Batting:
2B: Valdez 1
RBI: Valdez 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wort 1
SB: Thompson 1 ; Sweeney 1 ; Bridges 1
HBP: Peden 1
Batting:
2B: Andrews, Greg 1
RBI: Andrews, Greg 1 ; Boldt, Nathan 1 ; Alvarez, Erik 1
SH: Boldt, Nathan 1 ; Lutz, Brendan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Emrick, Nathan 3 ; Gerrard, Grant 1 ; Newman, Cory 1
SB: Koski, Kevin 1 ; Emrick, Nathan 1 ; Gerrard, Grant 1
HBP: Emrick, Nathan 1
