Southern Illinois University
1-4
UT Martin
2-2
Baseball loses to Tennessee-Martin, 6-5
02/24/2009 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
Feb. 24, 2009
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
MARTIN, Tenn. - Ty Nelson's two-out single scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, leading Tennessee-Martin (2-2) to a 6-5 win over Southern Illinois (1-4) earlier today in the Skyhawks' home-opener.
UTM trailed, 5-1, after three innings, but scored once in the fourth, fifth and sixth, and twice in the seventh to end a four-game losing streak against SIU (since 2006).
"We refused to make the adjustments we needed to on offense and our bullpen continued to struggle," said SIU associate head coach Ken Henderson. "We didn't execute the right pitches at the most crucial times in the game."
The Skyhawks put the biggest dent in the Saluki bullpen during the sixth and seventh innings, where two home runs, a walk and a couple singles led to the decisive runs.
Nelson started the sixth by launching a solo home run over the left field wall against lefthander Ryan Bradley to narrow the gap to 5-4.
Mark Hartsfield then tied the game with a solo blast versus righthander Neil Hudson. Hudson proceeded to walk Wes Patterson and gave up a base hit to Miles Hartsfield before giving way to Kellen Candau.
Moments after Candau recorded the second out on Drew Mason's comebacker to the mound, Nelson knocked in Patterson to give UTM a 6-5 edge.
Patterson took the hill to close things out in the ninth, and immediately ran into trouble when Scott Elmendorf singled and Michael Stalter doubled. With runners on second and third and no outs, Mark Kelly lined out to third. Chris Murphy was intentionally walked to load the bases after that. Patterson then settled down to force Jordan Sivertsen to pop-up to second and Tyler Bullock to ground out to second.
Patterson picked up his first save of the season.
Righthanded reliever Adam Bowker (1-0) was credited with the win after giving up only two hits, walking one and striking out four in 4.2 innings of shutout baseball.
Bowker replaced starting lefthander Lin Cates in the third inning. Cates walked five, gave up five hits and allowed five runs in only 2.2 innings before Bowker took the mound.
Hudson (0-1) suffered the loss for SIU. He issued one walk, allowed two hits, gave up two runs and did not record an out.
SIU went 28-consecutive innings without holding a lead until pulling ahead, 4-1, in the top of the second of today's game.
SIU was led by Elmendorf (3-for-5, RBI), Chris Serritella (3-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Aaron Roberts (2-for-4, 1 R, 2B, 2 RBI).
Nelson, who hit out of the eight-hole, went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a home run and two RBI (one which scored the game-winning run). Patterson also had a big day, going a perfect 3-for-3 with a double and one run scored.
SIU returns to action at the Stetson University Bright House Invitational on Feb. 27-Mar. 1. The Salukis open the tournament against South Alabama (1 p.m., ET) Friday. Host Stetson and the University of Iowa are also in this year's field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: BOWKER, Adam (1-0)
L: Hudson, Neil (0-1)
S: PATTERSON, Wes (1)
Batting:
2B: Stalter, Michael 1 ; Serritella, Chris 1 ; Roberts, Aaron 1
RBI: Elmendorf, Scott 1 ; Stalter, Michael 1 ; Serritella, Chris 1 ; Roberts, Aaron 2
SF: Stalter, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Sivertsen, Jordan 2 ; Bullock, Tyler 1 ; Roberts, Aaron 1
SB: Stalter, Michael 1
Batting:
2B: PATTERSON, Wes 1
HR: HARTSFIELD, Mark 1 ; NELSON, Ty 1
RBI: TERRY, Cody 1 ; HARTSFIELD, Mark 1 ; HARTSFIELD, Miles 2 ; NELSON, Ty 2
SF: HARTSFIELD, Miles 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HARTSFIELD, Mark 3 ; PATTERSON, Wes 1 ; NELSON, Ty 2
CS: HARTSFIELD, Miles 1 ; HOLT, Kevin 1
