Southern Illinois University
24-28
Indiana St.
33-21
Baseball downs Indiana State, 10-6
05/22/2009 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 22, 2009
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
WICHITA, Kan. - Southern Illinois University (24-28) ended its 2009 season on a high note when it beat Indiana State (33-21), 10-6, at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Friday.
Southern ended a season with a win for the 13th time in its baseball history.
SIU, which scored just five times in its first two games of the tournament, erupted for 10 runs on 12 hits against the second-seeded Sycamores. Today marked the first time the Salukis put up 10 or more runs in a Valley Tournament game since 2005.
"We played well and our offense did a much better job of adjusting today," said SIU associate head coach Ken Henderson. "We played the game the right way and it's nice to end the season on a positive note."
SIU trailed, 3-0, before scoring all 10 of its runs in the middle innings to chop down the Trees.
The Salukis used a leadoff error and four hits to push across five runs in the top of the fourth inning.
Scott Elmendorf reached on the error to start the inning. Two hitters later, Michael Stalter singled to right center. Stalter went to second on a wild pitch and Chris Serritella walked to load the bases. Aaron Roberts knocked in both Elmendorf and Stalter on a single to center and Tyler Bullock drove in Serritella on a double to center. Roberts touched home when Jordan Sivertsen grounded out to short and Bullock scored via Tony Lepore's two-out single to left, giving SIU a 5-3 lead, its first of the tournament.
SIU scored again in the fifth and rallied for another big inning in the sixth.
Five hits, including four-straight with two outs, keyed SIU's four-run sixth. Bullock ignited the rally when he went opposite field for his team-high 11th home run of the season. Chris Murphy, Elmendorf and Stalter each doubled and Kelly singled to bring home the other three runs, pushing SIU's lead to 10-4.
ISU pulled to within five during its at-bat in the sixth, before posing its biggest threat in the eighth. With a run already in, the Sycamores walked three times and had the bases loaded with outs when SIU closer Bryant George relieved David Kington.
George threw just two pitches and forced ISU leadoff hitter Ryan Strausborger to pop-up to second, keeping the game at 10-6.
ISU also had runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth, but George struck out Brian Jett to pick up his eighth save of the season. George, a first-team all-MVC pick, finished the year a perfect 8-for-8 in save opportunities.
Right-hander Andrew Dunn (8-4) was credited with the win. Dunn gave up five runs on eight hits, while striking out three and walking two in six innings.
Right-hander Jacob Petricka (7-3) suffered the loss for ISU. Petricka worked 5.2 innings, allowing nine hits and nine runs. He struck out four and walked two on the day, as well.
SIU outhit ISU, 12-11.
Kelly, Stalter, Bullock and Lepore each had two hits to lead the Dawgs. Kelly and Bullock also had two RBI. Kelly finished third in career RBI at SIU with 155.
ISU scored all but one of its tallies off home runs. The Sycamores hit four on the day, with Jett accounting for two. Nick Ciolli led all ISU hitters, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a home run and one RBI. Strausborger and Jett followed with two hits apiece.
SIU improved to 5-8 all-time as a five-seed in the MVC Tournament under head coach Dan Callahan. Callahan's teams are now 12-22 all-time in 11 trips to the league's postseason tourney.
Additionally, the Salukis earned their first win against a team ranked ahead of them in the Valley this year.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dunn, Andrew (8-4)
L: Petricka, Jacob (7-3)
S: George, Bryant (8)
Batting:
2B: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Elmendorf, Scott 1 ; Stalter, Michael 1 ; Bullock, Tyler 1
HR: Bullock, Tyler 1
RBI: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Elmendorf, Scott 1 ; Kelly, Mark 2 ; Roberts, Aaron 2 ; Bullock, Tyler 2 ; Sivertsen, Jordan 1 ; Lepore, Tony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murphy, Chris 2 ; Elmendorf, Scott 2 ; Stalter, Michael 1 ; Serritella, Chris 1 ; Roberts, Aaron 1 ; Bullock, Tyler 2 ; Lepore, Tony 1
CS: Lepore, Tony 1
Batting:
HR: Strausborger, Ryan 1 ; Ciolli, Nick 1 ; Jett, Brian 2
RBI: Strausborger, Ryan 1 ; Ciolli, Nick 1 ; Jett, Brian 3 ; Fieser, Luke 1
SF: Fieser, Luke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Strausborger, Ryan 1 ; Ciolli, Nick 2 ; Lafrenz, Bronco 1 ; Jett, Brian 2
