Baseball beats James Madison, loses to No. 22 Coastal Carolina

Feb. 20, 2009

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

James Madison Box Score
Coastal Carolina Box Score

CONWAY, S.C. - Southern Illinois University (1-1) split a pair of games at the Caravelle Resort Tournament Friday. The Salukis beat James Madison, 19-4, and lost to No. 22 Coastal Carolina, 16-3.

Mark Kelly extended his hitting streak to 12 games and has hit safely in 22 of his last 23 games dating back to the 2008 season.

"We beat a very good James Madison team and took advantage of their mistakes and did the things we needed to win," said associate head coach Ken Henderson, who is leading the team in Dan Callahan's absence. "We didn't do those things in game two and it hurt us against Coastal Carolina."

SIU resumes tournament action against Troy on Saturday at 2 p.m., ET. That game will be played at BB&T Coastal Field, the home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Advanced-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves).

Southern Illinois 19, James Madison 4

Kelly and Jordan Sivertsen each fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, leading a high-powered Saluki offense which produced 19 runs on 21 hits in a dominating win over this year's Colonial Athletic Association preseason favorite.

Kelly went 4-for-6 with three runs, a double, home run and career-high five RBI, while Sivertsen, a freshman, finished at 4-for-6 with three runs, a double, home run and three RBI.

Righthander Adam Curynski set the tone in his first career opening day start. Curynski retired 14 of 16 hitters, allowed only one hit and struck out three in his first four innings.

JMU starting lefthander Justin Wood was equally impressive in his first four innings, striking out four and giving up no hits over that span. Wood, however, buckled in the fifth.

A leadoff double by Kelly and single by Chris Murphy gave the Salukis two quick baserunners to start the fifth. Wade Dutton and Aaron Roberts each added two-out RBI-hits out of the bottom of the order to put the Dawgs on the board, 2-0.

SIU then sent 13 men to the plate and blew the game open in an eight-run, seven-hit sixth inning.

Kelly delivered a three-run homer, scored once and had four RBI to fuel the surge. Michael Stalter, Scott Elmendorf, Sivertsen, Chris Serritella, Dutton and Roberts also reached safely and scored to help push SIU's lead to 10-0.

The Salukis tacked on another two runs in the seventh, three more in the eighth and four in the ninth to polish off the 19-4 win.

All nine of SIU's starters had a hit, with six Salukis chipping in two or more. Kelly (4), Sivertsen (4), Stalter (2), Murphy (2), Chase Sanford (2) and Roberts (3) formed that group.

Curynski (1-0), who has posted wins in four of his last five starts dating back to the 2008 season, allowed five hits and three runs in six innings. He recorded four strikeouts and walked two on the day, as well.

Wood (0-1) gave up nine hits and seven runs to go along with six strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work.

SIU's 19 runs marked the most in a season-opener since the Salukis scored 13 against Farleigh Dickinson in 1989. In addition, SIU won its season-opener by 10 or more runs for the first time since 1978 (defeated Miami (Fla.), 12-0).

#22 Coastal Carolina 16, Southern Illinois 3

No. 22 Coastal Carolina scored eight runs in the first three innings and coasted to a 16-3 win. The Chanticleers pounded out 20 hits, including four home runs.

Trailing, 2-0, things went south in a hurry for SIU in the second inning, where a costly two-out error led to six unearned runs.

Eight-hole hitter Dan Bowman reached on the mishap to keep the inning alive. Three-straight hits and another error followed, before Jose Iglesias hit a towering two-run bomb to give CCU an 8-0 cushion.

The Chanticleers scored once more in the fourth, four times in the fifth and plated three runs with the help of back-to-back home runs in the seventh.

Freshman Anthony Meo (1-0) picked up the win after allowing two hits and striking out six in six innings. He also gave up one run and walked three.

Andrew Dunn (0-1) suffered the loss for SIU. Dunn gave up a career-high 12 hits and nine runs in just four innings.

Offensively, Murphy led the Dawgs with two hits.

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