Southern Illinois University
22-30-1, 13-16-1
Northern Iowa
25-29, 12-18
Baseball Falls to Northern Iowa, 3-2
05/21/2004 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 21, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
WATERLOO, Iowa - Armando Lara delivered a one-out bunt single in the bottom of the sixth inning to score what turned out to be the game-winning run, as Northern Iowa (25-29, 12-18) defeated Southern Illinois (22-30-1, 13-16-1), 3-2, earlier tonight at Riverfront Stadium.
With the win, UNI took a 2-0 series lead, and as a result, kept its hopes of making the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament alive. SIU, on the other hand, clinched one of the remaining three MVC Tournament berths with the help of Evansville who lost its first two games against Wichita State and Indiana State, who dropped its first three contests to Creighton. The Salukis, however, won't know what seed they'll be until the end of the weekend.
SIU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Nathan Boldt launched a one-out home run over the center field wall. Boldt's homer marked his third of the season.
Both teams would then get to the bottom of the fourth inning, where heavy rain and tornado warnings halted play. The game, which was postponed at 2:42 p.m., resumed five hours and thirty-five minutes later with the Panthers' three, four and five hitters coming to the plate in the bottom of the fourth.
UNI, who didn't seem affected at all by the lengthy delay, immediately regained the lead in the fourth. With right-hander Jerel Deitering on the mound, Dan Grant reached on a one-out error by Saluki third baseman Nathan Boldt. Behind 2-0 in the count, UNI five-hole hitter Ryan Norman sent Deitering's third offering deep over the left field wall to give the Panthers a 2-1 advantage.
Aided by three hits, SIU battled back to tie the game in the top of the sixth. Kevin Koski led off with a single to right and stole second. With one out, Nathan Emrick singled and Koski advanced to third. An ensuing single by Greg Andrews would plate Koski to knot things up at 2-2. Andrews' game-tying hit proved to be even bigger, as the Dawgs' ended up stranding two runners in scoring position.
With one out in the sixth, Grant ripped a single down the left field line and stole second. Norman followed with a double to get pinch-runner Nate Heath to third, before Lara's bunt plated Heath for the 3-2 win.
SIU had one last runner on base with one out in the top of the seventh, but pinch-hitter Erik Alvarez struck out and Koski hit into a fielder's choice to silence the threat.
Micah Christensen (4-1) picked up the win on the mound for UNI. Christensen struck out seven batters, allowed six hits and gave up two runs in six innings. Spencer Black struck out one batter in the seventh inning en route to earning his second save of the year.
Deitering (2-2) suffered the loss for SIU. Deitering allowed three hits and three runs in 2.1 innings. He also struck out three batters.
Offensively, Andrews went 2-for-3 with a RBI to lead the Salukis.
Norman, who also went 2-for-3, topped UNI.
Due to heavy rain once again, the Salukis and Panthers were unable to play their nine-inning nightcap. Instead, both teams will play two nine-inning games beginning at 11 a.m., tomorrow.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Christensen, Micah (5-1)
L: Deitering, Jerel (2-2)
S: Black, Spencer (2)
Batting:
HR: Boldt, Nathan 1
RBI: Andrews, Greg 1 ; Boldt, Nathan 1
SH: Newman, Cory 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Koski, Kevin 1 ; Boldt, Nathan 1
SB: Koski, Kevin 1
Batting:
2B: Norman, Ryan 1 ; Lara, Armando 1
HR: Norman, Ryan 1
RBI: Norman, Ryan 2 ; Lara, Armando 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Grant, Dan 1 ; Heath, Nate 1 ; Norman, Ryan 1
SB: Heath, Nate 1 ; Lara, Armando 2
