Southern Illinois University
8-13, 1-0
Northern Iowa
8-10, 0-1
Baseball rallies late to beat Northern Iowa, 8-7
03/20/2009 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
March 20, 2009
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University (8-13, 1-0) committed a season-high six errors, but pushed across two runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat Northern Iowa (8-10, 0-1), 8-7, earlier today in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams.
UNI overcame a three-run deficit to take a 7-6 lead when Levi Ferguson delivered a two-out, two-RBI single in the top of the eighth.
After the Panthers came up empty in the top of the ninth, designated hitter Tyler Bullock led off the bottom half of the inning with a double off UNI closer Shuhei Fujiya. John Brennan pinch ran for Bullock and advanced to third on a passed ball. After Tony Lepore struck out looking, Scott Elmendorf singled up the middle to tie the game. Chris Murphy reached on a catcher's interference on the next play, before Aaron Roberts walked to load the bases. Michael Stalter then walked and Elmendorf touched home to give SIU the 8-7 win.
The wild ninth was simply the icing on a mess of a game played by both teams. Both UNI and SIU combined for 11 errors, eight of which came in the first five innings.
"We didn't particularly play well, but we battled hard," said Saluki associate head coach Ken Henderson. "We never quit."
The Salukis built a 6-3 lead after scoring three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings. Chris Serritella launched a three-run homer to key the fourth, where UNI made three of its errors. An inning later, SIU added three more runs with the help of three singles and a sacrifice fly.
Aided by an error in the seventh, UNI scored two unearned runs to slice the Dawgs' lead to 6-5. Cory Ege led things off with a single and went to third on the mishap. With runners at first and second and one out, Jason Summers flied out to right and Ege scored. Travis Bennett knocked in Ferguson on his ensuing double to right.
Saluki closer Bryant George (1-0) was credited with the win after giving up three hits and striking out three in 1.1 scoreless innings.
Fujiya (0-2) took the loss, allowing two runs, walking two and giving up two hits in one-third of an inning. UNI didn't issue a walk until Fujiya relieved starting lefthander Nick Kirk in the ninth. Kirk gave up six runs on seven hits, struck out nine and walked none in eight innings.
Offensively, UNI outhit SIU, 12-9. Bennett and James Dinizo each led the Panthers with three hits. Bennett went 3-for-5 with one RBI and Dinizo went 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
Lepore and Elmendorf teamed up for five of SIU's hits at the bottom of the order. Lepore went 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Elmendorf went 2-for-3 with two runs, including the winning tally in the ninth.
Serritella, who extended his hitting streak to eight games, chipped in three RBI on his team-high fourth home run of the season.
SIU's six errors were the most in a Valley game since 2004.
SIU opened MVC play with a win for the eighth-consecutive year and improved to 11-4 in Valley-openers under head coach Dan Callahan.
The Salukis and Panthers resume their series on Saturday at 2 p.m., CT. Righthanders Adam Curynski (1-1) and Derek Ott (0-2) will start on the mound.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: George, Bryant (1-0)
L: Fujiya, Shuhei (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Bennett, Travis 2
RBI: Ferguson, Levi 3 ; Summers, Jason 2 ; Bennett, Travis 1 ; Taliaferro, Jeff 1
SH: Ferguson, Levi 1
SF: Summers, Jason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ferguson, Levi 2 ; Dinizo, James 2 ; Grgurich, Grant 1 ; Ege, Cory 2
SB: Ferguson, Levi 1
CS: Manrique, Deric 1
HBP: Manrique, Deric 1
Batting:
2B: Bullock, Tyler 1
HR: Serritella, Chris 1
RBI: Roberts, Aaron 1 ; Stalter, Michael 2 ; Kelly, Mark 1 ; Serritella, Chris 3 ; Elmendorf, Scott 1
SH: Elmendorf, Scott 1
SF: Roberts, Aaron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Stalter, Michael 1 ; Kelly, Mark 1 ; Serritella, Chris 1 ; Brennan, John 1 ; Lepore, Tony 1 ; Elmendorf, Scott 2
SB: Lepore, Tony 1
