Southern Illinois University
4-10
Ball State
6-5
Baseball falls to Ball State, 10-5
03/10/2009 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
March 10, 2009
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Jeremy Hazelbaker, Nate Fields and Kolbrin Vitek combined for eight hits and eight runs to lead Ball State University (6-5) to a 10-5 win over Southern Illinois (4-10) earlier today at Abe Martin Field.
BSU and SIU met for the first time since 1995. The Cardinals had lost seven in a row against the Salukis dating back to 1971, but ended that streak today.
Hazelbaker, Fields and Vitek were merely unstoppable at the top of BSU's order, hitting a combined .615 (8-for-13) with eight runs scored, a home run, two doubles and three RBI.
The three helped dismantle a SIU pitching staff which sent seven hurlers to the mound.
Righthander Brad Lawrence was rocky in his first start of the season, giving up three runs on three hits, two walks, a hit batsman and a balk.
Nate Fields ignited BSU's early rally with a one-out single to left and went to second when Vitek walked. Zach Dygert was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Shortly after Fields scored on a balk, Kory Benbow belted a two-RBI single to left, giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
SIU pulled to within a run in the bottom of the first when Chris Murphy scored on a double play and Scott Elmendorf touched home on a two-out single by Jordan Sivertsen, but that was as close as the Salukis would get.
The Cardinals tacked on another run in the second, two more in the fourth, one in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth to nail down their sixth win of the season.
Dygert's two-out single plated both runs in the fourth, while Vitek's two-run homer gave BSU a five-run lead (9-4) in the eighth.
Lawrence (0-1) gave up five hits, four runs, walked two and struck out three in just two innings of work.
Meanwhile, righthanded reliever Cal Bowling (1-0) had his way with the Dawgs.
Bowling, who had given up eight hits and nine runs in 1.1 innings over his first two relief appearances this year, retired 11 of the 12 hitters he faced. Only one Saluki reached base against Bowling and that was via a walk in the seventh. He also recorded four strikeouts in 3.2 scoreless innings.
On the day, SIU pitching gave up 10 runs, 15 hits, had one error, walked five, hit two batters, balked twice and threw five wild pitches.
Offensively, BSU pounded out 15 hits, with Hazelbaker, Fields and Ian Nielsen chipping in three apiece. Hazelbaker was 3-for-5 with three runs and two stolen bases, Fields was 3-for-4 with three runs scored, a walk and a stolen base, and Nielsen was 3-for-5 with a double.
Vitek and Dygert also had big days. Vitek went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, home run and three RBI, while Dygert had a hand in four of BSU's runs. He finished at 1-for-3 with a run scored and three RBI.
SIU registered 11 hits. Murphy was most productive for the Dawgs, going 3-for-5 with a double and career-high three runs scored. Michael Stalter and Sivertsen followed with two hits.
Elmendorf scored the 144th run of his career in the first inning. As a result, he moved into a three-way tie for ninth in runs scored at SIU.
SIU wraps up its two-game series with the Cardinals on Wednesday at 2 p.m., CT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: BOWLING, Cal (1-0)
L: Lawrence, Brad (0-1)
Batting:
2B: VITEK, Kolbrin 1 ; NIELSEN, Ian 1 ; KOONTZ, Nathan 1
HR: VITEK, Kolbrin 1
RBI: VITEK, Kolbrin 3 ; DYGERT, Zach 3 ; BENBOW, Kory 2 ; KOONTZ, Nathan 1
SF: DYGERT, Zach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HAZELBAKER, Jeremy 3 ; FIELDS, Nate 3 ; VITEK, Kolbrin 2 ; DYGERT, Zach 1 ; CHENOWETH, Ryan 1
SB: HAZELBAKER, Jeremy 2 ; FIELDS, Nate 1
HBP: HAZELBAKER, Jeremy 1 ; DYGERT, Zach 1
PO: WIDAU, Mitch 1
Batting:
2B: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Sivertsen, Jordan 1 ; Cerven, Tom 1
RBI: Stalter, Michael 2 ; Sivertsen, Jordan 1 ; Cerven, Tom 1
SH: Kelly, Mark 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murphy, Chris 3 ; Elmendorf, Scott 1 ; Sivertsen, Jordan 1
SB: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Roberts, Aaron 1
