Baseball falls in season-opener, 14-5

Friday, February 19

Jonesboro, Ark.

1:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

0-1

Arkansas St.

1-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Illinois	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	1	1	5	11	3
Arkansas State	5	0	2	0	3	0	4	0	X	14	13	1

02/19/2010 | 12:00:00 | Baseball

Box Score

Feb. 19, 2010

By Jason Clay
www.SIUSalukis.com

Box Score

JONESBORO, Ark. - Arkansas State scored five runs in the first inning and had 13 hits on the day to defeat the Southern Illinois baseball team, 14-5, Friday at Tomlinson Stadium in the season opener for both schools.

Senior left-handed pitcher Jimmy Cornell had a rough first inning, where he walked three, hit two batters and gave up two hits. He lasted three innings on Friday, but did strike out seven and gave up seven runs (six earned) as he was credited with the loss.

"I'd say we got waxed pretty good today, but in all fairness to our hitters we swung the bats pretty good today," head coach Dan Callahan said. "Last year Jimmy (Cornell) could have been considered a legitment No. 1, but he didn't pitch that way today. Still, you got to have good stuff to strikeout seven in three innings."

Arkansas State's Andy Ferguson picked up the win Friday, throwing five innings with two hits and two runs allowed. The Red Wolves (1-0) had four multiple-run innings. After the big bottom half of the first, ASU scored a pair in the third, three in the fifth and four in the seventh.

Southern Illinois (0-1) had 11 hits on the day. Junior center fielder Chris Murphy went 2-for-5 at the plate with two runs driven in and one run scored. He drove in SIU's first run of the game in the third inning on a double to right-center and his bases-loaded single to right in the eighth brought home Jordan Sivertsen.

Freshman second baseman Brock Harding went 1-for-4 and had two RBI in his first career game as a Saluki. He drove in Michael Stalter on a triple to the wall in the sixth and added a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth.

"I like Brock's aggressiveness," Callahan said of Harding. "It was his first college game and he took some good swings. Overall I like our lineup. We're going to have to pound the strike zone on the mound a little bit more and catch it on defense."

Sivertsen and Chris Serritella were the other Salukis with two hits on Friday. Sivertsen went 2-for-5 at the dish with that one run scored and Serritella was 2-for-3. Right fielder Aaron Roberts was responsible for the other Saluki run on Friday. He brought home Murphy in the third on a fielders choice.

SIU, which had not been on a baseball diamond this spring because of poor weather in Carbondale, had three errors on the day.

Arkansas State had three players with two or more hits in the game. Shortstop Jordan Kimball and catcher Kyle DeGrace both drove in three runs each and nine different ASU players crossed the plate.

Southern Illinois used three pitchers after Cornell. Freshman Aaron Snyder threw a scoreless eighth inning after Daniel Etienne and Andrew Bever combined to give up seven runs over four innings.

The Salukis and Red Wolves are back at it Saturday for game two in the series. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.