Baseball Loses in Ninth Inning to Stetson, 10-9

Saturday, February 12

DeLand, Fla.

1:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

0-2

Stetson

2-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Illinois	0	4	1	0	3	0	0	1	0	9	14	4
Stetson	0	0	2	0	5	0	2	0	1	10	13	2

02/12/2005 | 12:00:00 | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 12, 2005

Final Stats

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

DeLAND, Fla. - Sophomore Brian Bocock hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to lead Stetson University (2-0) to a thrilling 10-9 win over Southern Illinois (0-2) earlier today at Conrad Park. The Hatters overcame a six-run deficit to edge the Salukis.

Hitting eighth in Stetson's order, Bocock was ahead 3-2 in the count against Saluki reliever Mark Obszanski, before he delivered his game-winning smash deep over the wall in left.

It was indeed a huge day for the Hatter underclassmen, as Bocock, along with sophomore Braedyn Pruitt and freshman Chris Johnson, delivered clutch hits late in the game to propel the dramatic come-from-behind victory.

Stetson fell behind 8-2 early on, but Pruitt's RBI-single to center tied the game, and Johnson drove in the go-ahead run. Both hits came after a key two-out error by Saluki freshman second baseman Ryan Hypke in the bottom of the seventh.

Sophomore Shane Johnson, who reached on the error, later scored the run that gave the Hatters their first lead of the game.

Two innings earlier, Pruitt and Johnson helped Stetson get five consecutive hits that ignited a five-run fifth. All but two of those tallies came courtesy of a three-run blast by cleanup hitter Nick Palmisano.

While Stetson held up in the end, it was SIU who took control of the game early.

SIU nearly matched its game-one total of six hits in the second inning, where a pair of doubles and three singles led to four runs.

The Dawgs picked apart Stetson sophomore left-hander Nathan Nery by stringing together four straight one-out hits to fuel the rout.

Matt Brewer singled to left and scored on a Chris McCulloch double down the left field line. Erik Alvarez then hit safely to right to knock in McCulloch. Alvarez came home on an ensuing double by Hunter Harrigan.

Moments after Harrigan's first-pitch double, which found the gap in left center, Tyler Lairson grounded to short for SIU's second out.

Saluki leadoff hitter Kevin Koski, however, kept the rally alive with a single to center that scored Harrigan, giving the Dawgs a 4-0 lead.

SIU added another run in the third, where Dean Cademartori started things off with a double to left. Cademartori moved to third on Grant Gerrard's single, and scored on a wild pitch.

Ahead, 5-2, after Stetson answered with a couple runs in the bottom of the third, Gerrard and McCulloch homered to give the Salukis a six-run edge in the fifth.

Cademartori reached on an error to begin the inning, and quickly scored on a two-run bomb by Gerrard. The homer, which marked Gerrard's first as a Saluki, sailed over the 335-feet sign in right.

With one away after Brewer flied out to center, McCulloch went opposite field, as his solo shot to left, also marked the first round-tripper of his SIU career.

Holding a comfortable 8-2 lead, it appeared as though the momentum was in SIU's favor, but a strong Hatter hitting club proved otherwise in the fifth.

After registering only three hits in four innings, the top half of the Hatters' lineup exploded.

Jordan led off the ambush with a single and advanced to third on a hit by Pruitt. Johnson followed with a single to left, which scored Jordan.

With runners at first and second, and up 1-0 in the count, Palmisano lifted Finigan's second offering over the wall in right. One other hit led to one more run, and just like that, the Hatters were in the game, trailing 8-7.

Down, 9-8, following the Hatters' two-run seventh, Hypke bounced back to breathe life in the Salukis at the start of the eighth.

Hypke, who went to third on a two-base error by pitcher Corey Kluber, tied the game at 9-9 when he touched home on a two-out double by Koski.

SIU (14) and Stetson (13) combined for 27 hits and six errors, with the Salukis committing four. Interestingly enough, all four of SIU's mishaps came at second base, as Nathan Emrick also had three throwing errors at that position.

"I was proud of our hitters. They put us in a position to win the game," said head coach Dan Callahan. "I wish we could have sustained what we started. We had opportunities in the eighth and the ninth, but couldn't finish the job."

What Callahan was referring to was that SIU left a potential go-ahead runner on in the eighth and couldn't capitalize with one out and runners on first and second in the ninth.

In his first start since Apr. 4, 2004, Finigan limited Stetson to just three hits in three of his first four innings. He ended up allowing eight hits and seven runs, while striking out four on the day.

"I thought P.J. had real good stuff early on," quoted Callahan. "As his pitch count increased, I think he lost a little bit. He definitely pitched well enough to warrant additional starts in the future."

Obszanski (0-1) took the fall for SIU in his first appearance as a Saluki

For Stetson, it was Corey Kluber (1-0) who picked up the win in relief. He allowed one hit in 1.1 scoreless innings.

Offensively, Koski and Gerrard contributed three hits apiece to pace the Saluki surge. Koski went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI, while Gerrard went 3-for-5 with a home run, one run scored and two RBI.

Brewer and McCulloch followed with two hits.

Johnson led the Hatters with three hits.

SIU wraps up its three-game series against Stetson tomorrow at 11 a.m., CST.