Southern Illinois University
15-20
Illinois
21-10
Baseball comes back to beat Illinois, 9-6
04/15/2009 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
April 15, 2009
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
MARION, Ill. - Chris Serritella's two-out, two-RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted Southern Illinois University (15-20) to a 9-6 come-from-behind win over Illinois (21-10) Wednesday night at Rent One Park.
SIU, which trailed, 6-5, scored four unearned runs to finish off the Illini.
Chris Murphy ignited the Dawgs' eighth-inning rally with a one-out single to left. Murphy stole second and went to third when Scott Elmendorf reached on an error. Mark Kelly drove in Murphy on a sacrifice fly to tie the game and Michael Stalter kept things going with a single through the left side. Serritella then brought home Elmendorf and Stalter when he split the right center gap for his second triple of the season. Serritella scored on Aaron Roberts' ensuing base hit to give SIU a 9-6 lead.
Righthander Bryant George took the mound in the ninth and sat the Illini down in order to pick up his sixth save of the season. George has earned a save in two-straight relief appearances.
SIU blew an early 5-0 lead when its bullpen fell apart in the sixth.
Illinois loaded the bases with no outs and sent 10 men to the plate against Saluki relievers Neil Hudson, Daniel Wells and Brian Pullyblank. The Illini pushed across six runs, two of which scored via a hit batsman and one on a wild pitch. A sacrifice fly by Pete Cappetta and consecutive two-out hits, including a single by Willie Argo and double by Josh Parr scored the other runs to give Illinois a 6-5 edge.
Righthander Kellen Candau (1-0) was credited with his first career win after allowing one hit in two scoreless innings.
Lefthander Corey Kimes (1-1) suffered the loss. Kimes gave up five hits and two runs (both unearned) in 2.1 innings.
SIU outhit Illinois 14-8 on the night. Serritella went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, a triple and two RBI. Murphy, Stalter, Roberts and Tony Lepore followed with two hits each.
Jordan Sivertsen, who gave the Dawgs their five-run cushion when he blasted a grand slam with no outs in the fourth, went 1-for-3 with a run scored and five RBI. Sivertsen became the first Saluki to hit a grand slam since Tyler Lairson accomplished the feat against Creighton on May 3, 2008.
Illinois was led by Parr, who finished at 2-for-4 with one RBI. The Illini committed three errors, as well.
Illinois had beaten SIU in five-straight trips to southern Illinois prior to tonight.
The Salukis, who posted their second-consecutive comeback win, homered for the fifth game in a row. SIU has hit seven home runs in five games, six of which came in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
SIU returns to Missouri Valley Conference action at Indiana State this weekend. The Salukis and Sycamores open a three-game series on Friday at 6 p.m., ET.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Candau, Kellen (1-0)
L: Kimes, Corey (1-1)
S: George, Bryant (6)
Batting:
2B: McMurray, Casey 1 ; Parr, Josh 1
3B: Cappetta, Pete 1
RBI: Altobelli, Dominic 1 ; Johnson, Aaron 1 ; Cappetta, Pete 1 ; Argo, Willie 1 ; Parr, Josh 1
SF: Cappetta, Pete 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bonadonna, Joe 1 ; McMurray, Casey 1 ; Wikoff, Brandon 1 ; Altobelli, Dominic 1 ; Johnson, Aaron 1 ; Argo, Willie 1
CS: Bonadonna, Joe 1 ; Argo, Willie 1
HBP: Altobelli, Dominic 1 ; Johnson, Aaron 1
Batting:
3B: Serritella, Chris 1
HR: Sivertsen, Jordan 1
RBI: Kelly, Mark 1 ; Serritella, Chris 2 ; Roberts, Aaron 1 ; Sivertsen, Jordan 5
SH: Bullock, Tyler 1
SF: Kelly, Mark 1 ; Sivertsen, Jordan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Elmendorf, Scott 1 ; Stalter, Michael 1 ; Serritella, Chris 3 ; Roberts, Aaron 1 ; Bullock, Tyler 1 ; Sivertsen, Jordan 1
SB: Murphy, Chris 1
HBP: Roberts, Aaron 1
