Southern Illinois University
23-28
Missouri St.
34-19
Baseball falls to Missouri State, 8-4
05/21/2009 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 21, 2009
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
WICHITA, Kan. - Top-seeded Missouri State University (34-19) eliminated Southern Illinois University (23-28) from championship round play with an 8-4 win Thursday at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
SIU entered the day needing two wins to make Saturday's championship game. Instead, the Salukis dropped out of contention with a record of 0-2 in their pod.
"Today was disappointing. We didn't play well or give ourselves a chance," said SIU associate head coach Ken Henderson. "I thought we battled offensively, but couldn't stop them. Overall, it just wasn't a good day."
MVC Pitcher of the Year and College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Year candidate Buddy Baumann (11-1) allowed only one run, walked one, struck out seven and scattered eight hits in seven innings to earn his league-high 11th win of the season.
Baumann, a left-hander out of Rogersville, Mo., set the tone early, tossing six-straight scoreless innings after giving up his only run in the bottom of the first. Michael Stalter flied out to right and Scott Elmendorf scored to tie the game at 1-1 with one out in the first and that was as close as the Dawgs would get.
Left-hander Jimmy Cornell, one of SIU's most consistent starting pitchers, ran into trouble in the second inning. Two walks, a wild pitch and a couple fielding mishaps led to three runs, as the Bears batted around.
Chris Playter led off with a double and Tyler Ryun walked. On the next play, Curt Courtwright laid down a bunt which rolled back to the pitcher's mound. Cornell fielded the ball cleanly, but didn't throw to any base. As a result, MSU loaded the bases with no outs, as all runners were safe on the fielder's choice-sacrifice bunt. Bret Marshall's ensuing bloop single fell between three Salukis in shallow center field and Playter scored. Moments after Ryun touched home on a wild pitch, Courtwright scored on a one-out sacrifice fly by Brayden Drake to give the Bears a 4-1 cushion.
Cornell (2-2), after giving up four runs and five hits, walking five and striking out three in 2.2 innings, gave way to right-hander Daniel Etienne in the third.
"I struggled and didn't have much control of my fastball today," said Cornell.
MSU then put the game out of reach with four runs on eight hits against the Saluki bullpen.
Playter drove in Drake on a two-out single off Etienne in the fourth. Pinch-hitter Trevor Rogers knocked in Kevin Medrano on a base hit and Drake scored on an error against Kellen Candau in the sixth. Aaron Conway's solo home run off Neil Hudson extended the Bears' lead to 8-2 in the ninth.
Stalter's two-run homer capped all scoring with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
MSU outhit SIU, 13-12. The Salukis had gone 13-straight games without giving up double-digit hits prior to today.
Playter and Drake each went 3-for-5, scored and had one RBI to lead the Bears. Medrano, the Valley's Freshman of the Year, followed with two hits and two runs scored.
Stalter went 4-for-4 to lead all Salukis. He fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, finishing with a double, home run and two singles. Stalter, who ranks second on the team with five home runs, hit safely in four-straight at-bats. Mark Kelly, Chris Serritella and Tony Lepore chipped in two hits each.
In addition, SIU left 12 runners on base, while MSU stranded 13. The Bears left the bases loaded twice, as well.
The Salukis fell to 0-10 against teams ahead of them in the Valley this year. SIU went 0-4 vs. Creighton (fourth-seed), 0-3 vs. Missouri State (top-seed, regular-season champion) and 0-3 vs. Indiana State (second-seed).
This year's new tournament format guarantees every participating team at least three games. SIU will wrap up its season against second-seeded Indiana State Friday. First pitch is set for 11 a.m., CT. Right-hander Andrew Dunn (7-4, 2.76 ERA) will start on the mound.
Friday marks the last game for seniors Mark Kelly, Scott Elmendorf, Andrew Dunn, Adam Curynski, David Kington and Daniel Wells.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Baumann,Buddy (11-1)
L: Cornell, Jimmy (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Playter,Chris 1
HR: Conway,Aaron 1
RBI: Conway,Aaron 1 ; Drake,Brayden 1 ; Carlson,Ben 1 ; Rogers,Trevor 1 ; Playter,Chris 1 ; Marshall,Brett 1
SH: Courtwright,Curt 1
SF: Drake,Brayden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Conway,Aaron 1 ; Medrano,Kevin 2 ; Drake,Brayden 2 ; Playter,Chris 1 ; Ryun,Tyler 1 ; Courtwright,Curt 1
SB: Playter,Chris 1
CS: Courtwright,Curt 1
Batting:
2B: Stalter, Michael 1
HR: Stalter, Michael 1
RBI: Stalter, Michael 3 ; Sivertsen, Jordan 1
SF: Stalter, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Elmendorf, Scott 1 ; Kelly, Mark 1 ; Stalter, Michael 1 ; Serritella, Chris 1
