Southern Illinois University
6-12
North Dakota
3-9
Baseball falls to North Dakota, 7-5
03/15/2009 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
March 15, 2009
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The University of North Dakota (3-9) pounded out 14 hits and used a strong effort from soft-tossing lefthander Brandon Baumgartner to beat Southern Illinois (6-12), 7-5, earlier today at Abe Martin Field.
The Fighting Sioux, who are in their second year transitioning at the NCAA Division I level, clinched their first series win of the season.
Baumgartner, who threw 119 pitches on the day, struck out three and allowed five runs on eight hits in his complete game victory. He was the third UND starter to throw over 100 pitches on the weekend.
Baumgartner's curveball kept the Salukis off-balance all day. He also tossed six scoreless innings and sat SIU down in order in each of the third, fourth, fifth and ninth.
UND staked Baumgartner to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second when Aaron Cook led off with a single, went to third on a one-out double by Andrew Marek and scored on a base hit by Josh Nelson. Marek, who advanced to third on Nelson's hit, touched home on an error.
SIU tied the game during its at-bat in the second after Chris Serritella scored on a fielder's choice and Chase Sanford came home on a groundball out to second.
The Salukis, however, would never take the lead.
UND loaded the bases for the second-straight time when Josh Lagein doubled to left, Andy Sadler singled up the middle and Jake Magner walked to start the third. Lagein touched home on Cook's single to left center, while Sadler scored on a double play and Magner scored on Marek's hit to center to push the Fighting Sioux lead to 5-2.
The Fighting Sioux built their biggest lead (7-2) after plating one more run in each of the fourth and fifth innings.
SIU narrowed the gap to 7-4 with two unearned runs off back-to-back errors in the sixth, before sparking a two-out rally in the eighth.
Chris Serritella singled to right center and went to second on a walk. Jordan Sivertsen extended his hitting streak to eight games on the next play when he knocked in Serritella on a single to left. Tom Cerven then struck out to end the inning.
Baumgartner (1-3) went on to pitch a perfect ninth inning to polish off his first win of the season.
Righthander David Kington (0-3) suffered the loss for SIU. Kington was roughed up for six hits and five runs in only two innings of work. He also walked three.
UND had five players with multiple-hits. Cook and Marek did the most damage, as each went 3-for-4 with a run scored. The two combined for three RBI, as well.
SIU, which posted eight hits, was led by Serritella. He went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
The Salukis, who finished their 10-game homestand at 4-6, hit the road to face Middle Tennessee State. SIU and MTSU open a two-game series on Tuesday at 3 p.m., CT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brandon Baumgartner (1-3)
L: Kington, David (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Josh Lagein 1 ; Andrew Gudmunson 1 ; Andrew Marek 1 ; Josh Nelson 1
RBI: Aaron Cook 1 ; Andrew Marek 2 ; Josh Nelson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Josh Lagein 1 ; Andy Sadler 1 ; Jake Magner 1 ; Aaron Cook 1 ; Andrew Gudmunson 1 ; Andrew Marek 1 ; Josh Nelson 1
SB: Joe Krivarchka 1
CS: Josh Lagein 1 ; Joe Krivarchka 1 ; Jabby Bakhit 1
PO: Andy Sadler 1
Batting:
RBI: Kelly, Mark 1 ; Bullock, Tyler 1 ; Sanford, Chase 1 ; Sivertsen, Jordan 1 ; Roberts, Aaron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Elmendorf, Scott 1 ; Stalter, Michael 1 ; Serritella, Chris 2 ; Sanford, Chase 1
