Southern Illinois University
4-9
Northern Illinois
4-7
Baseball beats Northern Illinois, 9-7
03/08/2009 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
March 8, 2009
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University (4-9) scored seven runs in the fourth inning to key a 9-7 win over Northern Illinois (4-7) earlier today in the series finale at Abe Martin Field.
SIU, which ended a three-game losing streak, trailed, 3-0, before sending 12 men to the plate in the bottom of the fourth.
"It's good to get a win," said Saluki associate head coach Ken Henderson. "After doing a lot of good things yesterday and not being rewarded for it, I was happy with the way we battled back today."
Chris Serritella ignited the surge with his first career home run to right. Jordan Sivertsen followed with a single to left and went to second when Tony Lepore walked. Tyler Bullock then stepped in and belted a two-RBI double to center. Aaron Roberts, who reached on an error, came around to score with the help of Chris Murphy's double and Scott Elmeondorf's groundout to second. Mark Kelly's double plated two more runs, pushing the Salukis' lead to 7-3.
"It was nice to see Chris jumpstart our offense with his first career home run," said Henderson. "The momentum swung in our favor after that."
NIU quickly pulled to within a run when it scored three times in the fifth. Pat Minogue knocked in Troy White on a double to left and Jordin Hood delivered a two-out, two-RBI single to narrow the gap to 7-6.
The Huskies managed to score once more in the fifth, but SIU answered with one run in both the fifth and sixth innings to put the 9-7 win on ice. Roberts scored on an error in the fifth and Serritella touched home on a fielder's choice in the sixth.
NIU had plenty of chances late in the game, but stranded six baserunners over the final three innings. The Huskies came up empty with the bases loaded in the seventh.
SIU righthanders Andrew Dunn and Bryant George then shut down NIU the rest of the way.
Dunn tossed a scoreless eighth inning before giving way to George in the ninth. George went on to record one strikeout in one scoreless inning to pick up his second save of the season. George now has 17 career saves and needs just three more to break SIU's all-time record, currently held by Al Levine (19 saves, 1990-91).
Righthander Daniel Etienne (2-0) was credited with the win. Etienne gave up three runs on six hits and struck out three in 2.2 innings of relief.
Starting righthander Chris Wakefield (0-3) took the fall for NIU. Wakefield allowed six hits and six runs in 3.2 innings of work.
Offensively, SIU registered 14 hits on the day, with Kelly going 3-for-5 with two RBI to lead the way. Kelly extended his hitting streak to six games, the longest of any Saluki this season. Murphy, Sivertsen and Lepore followed with two hits each. Bullock added three RBI on the day, as well.
NIU was led by White (3), Joe Buonovolanto (2), Dave Reynolds (2) and Pat Minogue (2), who accounted for all but four of the Huskies' 13 hits.
The Huskies also had three errors, while the Salukis went error free for the second-straight game.
In addition, NIU (15) and SIU (13) left a combined 28 runners on base.
SIU remains at home to face Ball State in a two-game series, beginning Tuesday at 2 p.m., CT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Etienne, Daniel (2-0)
L: WAKEFIELD, Chris (0-3)
S: George, Bryant (2)
Batting:
2B: BEHREN, Matt 1 ; WHITE, Troy 1 ; MINOGUE, Pat 2
RBI: HOOD, Jordin 2 ; BEHREN, Matt 1 ; WHITE, Troy 2 ; BADGLEY, Nick 1 ; MINOGUE, Pat 1
SH: SANCHEZ, Marvin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BUONAVOLANTO, Joe 1 ; REYNOLDS, Dave 1 ; BEHM, Justin 1 ; BEHREN, Matt 1 ; WHITE, Troy 1 ; BADGLEY, Nick 1 ; MINOGUE, Pat 1
SB: HOOD, Jordin 1
CS: WHITE, Troy 1
HBP: BEHM, Justin 1
Batting:
2B: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Kelly, Mark 1 ; Bullock, Tyler 1
HR: Serritella, Chris 1
RBI: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Elmendorf, Scott 1 ; Kelly, Mark 2 ; Serritella, Chris 1 ; Bullock, Tyler 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Stalter, Michael 1 ; Serritella, Chris 2 ; Sivertsen, Jordan 1 ; Lepore, Tony 1 ; Bullock, Tyler 1 ; Roberts, Aaron 2
SB: Roberts, Aaron 1
HBP: Murphy, Chris 1
