Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
21-18, 4-9
Northern Iowa
25-12, 11-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 2 |
| Northern Iowa | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 17 | 4 |
Baseball drops heartbreaker to Northern Iowa, 14-13
04/25/2008 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
April 25, 2008
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
WATERLOO, Iowa - Chris Lopez delivered a walk-off single with no outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to help the University of Northern Iowa (25-12, 11-2) escape with a wild 14-13 victory over Southern Illinois (21-18, 4-9) earlier tonight at Riverfront Stadium.
After UNI tied the game up in the eighth, Deric Manrique ripped a line drive off the left leg of Saluki closer Bryant George to start the ninth. George, who was forced to leave the game after the play, was replaced by Andrew Dunn.
Dan Embury laid down a bunt just to the right of the pitcher's mound on the next play, but was safe after Dunn bobbled the ball. Brandon Douglas followed with a single to put Panthers at every base with no outs. With the outfield playing in, Lopez smacked the game-winning hit over the head of SIU center fielder Chris Murphy.
About the only thing missing from tonight's game was extra innings.
Lefthander Shawn Joy, who took the mound for his first Friday start of the season after tossing a complete game shutout at then-No. 5 Wichita State less than a week ago, was badgered for seven hits and nine earned runs in just one-third of an inning.
UNI, which sent 14 men to the plate, scored nine runs on nine hits in what ended up being a 42-minute first inning debacle. Joy gave up six singles, a double and two home runs, as eight of the first nine Panthers reached base and scored to get UNI a quick 9-1 lead.
SIU, aided by four walks from a laboring Guido Fonseca, batted around to score five runs and slice the lead to 9-6 in the second.
SIU, which kept chipping away at the Panther lead, pulled ahead for the first time when it loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh.
Down, 12-11, Adam Hills singled and stole second. Mark Kelly then walked. After both Hills and Kelly advanced on a wild pitch, Bret Maugeri walked. Hills scored the tying run on an ensuing walk before Aaron Roberts lifted a sacrifice fly to knock in Kelly, giving the Salukis a 13-12 lead.
SIU, which scored in six of the game's first seven innings, couldn't get the big hit it needed, and as a result, went down quietly in the eighth and ninth innings.
Kelly, the only Saluki to reach base in that span, singled with one out in the ninth, but was thrown out at second. Maugeri was then robbed of an extra base hit when Levi Ferguson made a huge catch up against the wall in left field. Ferguson's catch sent the Panther dugout into a frenzy, before UNI buried SIU in the ninth.
Shuhei Fujiya (1-2) earned his first win for the Panthers after allowing one hit in two scoreless innings.
George (1-1) suffered the loss for SIU. He gave up one hit and one run in two-thirds of an inning.
There were a combined 27 runs, 30 hits and six errors between SIU and UNI tonight. Each team also had 28 baserunners.
Tyler Lairson and Kelly led the Salukis with three hits apiece.
SIU and UNI will conclude their series with a doubleheader at Noon, CST, Saturday. The series was shortened to two days due to the threat of severe flooding conditions in Waterloo.
Traffic was altered following tonight's game due to water spilling over the banks of the Cedar River and into the parking lots surrounding Riverfront Stadium.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fujiya, Shuhei (1-2)
L: George, Bryant (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Kelly, Mark 1
HR: Lairson, Tyler 1
RBI: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Elmendorf, Scott 2 ; Hills, Adam 1 ; Kelly, Mark 1 ; Maugeri, Brett 1 ; Bullock, Tyler 1 ; Roberts, Aaron 2 ; Lairson, Tyler 2 ; Mackedon, Owen 1
SF: Roberts, Aaron 1 ; Mackedon, Owen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Elmendorf, Scott 2 ; Hills, Adam 1 ; Kelly, Mark 2 ; Roberts, Aaron 3 ; Lairson, Tyler 3 ; Mackedon, Owen 1
SB: Hills, Adam 1
HBP: Lairson, Tyler 1
Batting:
2B: Manrique, Deric 2
HR: Douglas, Brandon 1 ; Featherston, Brett 1
RBI: Embury, Dane 3 ; Douglas, Brandon 4 ; Lopez, Chris 2 ; Featherston, Brett 2 ; Almonte, Eddie 1 ; Ege, Cory 2
SH: Embury, Dane 1 ; Ferguson, Levi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Manrique, Deric 4 ; Embury, Dane 1 ; Douglas, Brandon 1 ; Lopez, Chris 1 ; Featherston, Brett 2 ; Douglas, Brett 2 ; Almonte, Eddie 1 ; Ege, Cory 2
SB: Featherston, Brett 1
CS: Embury, Dane 1
HBP: Almonte, Eddie 1 ; Ege, Cory 1
