Southern Illinois University
1-3
Jacksonville State
2-5
Baseball drops game two of series at Jacksonville State
02/27/2010 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
Feb. 27, 2010
By Jason Clay
www.SIUSalukis.com
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State used 19 hits to defeat the Southern Illinois baseball team, 11-4, Saturday at Rudy Abbott Field.
JSU third baseman Sam Eberle had a big day, going 5-for-5 at the plate with five RBIs and two runs scored. Six different Gamecock hitters had two or more hits in the game.
The Salukis fall to 1-3 on the year while Jacksonville State improves to 2-5. The two teams will meet again on Sunday at 1 p.m. to decide the series winner.
"I thought Jacksonville State pitched well," head coach Dan Callahan said. "When you have some decent arms on the mound, sometimes that is going to take precedence over a team that is swinging the bats well and we just didn't do that well today. Our goal is to always win the series and that is something that is obtainable tomorrow."
Southern Illinois only had seven hits in the game, three of which came from junior center fielder Chris Murphy. He went 3-for-3 at the plate with a triple and one run scored.
"He's a spark plug for us," Callahan said of Murphy. "He's 100 percent at all times and I think he truly epitomizes someone who cares."
Freshman Nick Johnson, who had the game-winning hit in the series opener on Friday, drove in a pair of runs with his triple in the seventh. Aaron Roberts was responsible for the other two Saluki runs in the game, as he drove in Murphy and Johnson after their triples.
Freshman Lee Weld threw 3.2 innings in his second start on the mound for the Dawgs. He gave up seven hits and four runs with four strikeouts as he recorded the loss (0-2). SIU used five pitchers and combined with Friday's 11-inning game, the Dawgs have used 11 pitchers in the series.
Gamecock right-handed pitcher Jordan Beistline picked up the victory (1-1). He threw five innings, giving up four hits and one run.
Jacksonville State jumped on SIU with three runs in the first and one more in the second.
With two outs and a runner on third in the first, Steven Leach hit a slow infield grounder and narrowly beat the throw at first to allow Todd Cunningham to score. After another single and a walk, Eberle singled up the middle with the bases loaded to plate the other two JSU runners in the first.
Leach drove in his second run of the game in the bottom of the second with his double to right center.
Murphy had SIU's only two hits through the first three innings. He came up again in the fifth with two outs and tripled to the wall in right center. Roberts followed his at-bat and with a 2-2 count, hit a roller right at the second base bag. He hustled down the line to beat the throw, allowing Murphy to score.
That cut the Gamecock lead down to 4-1, but JSU responded in the fifth with four runs off of six hits. Eberle was responsible for two the runs in the inning with his home run to right center.
Jacksonville State padded its lead with three more runs off of three hits in the sixth. The Gamecocks could have scored more, but sophomore right-handed pitcher Neil Hudson got Cunningham to line out to third with the bases loaded.
Southern Illinois finally put some hits together in the top of the seventh. Pinch hitter Austin Montgomery started the inning off with a single up the middle and then Wes Neece was hit by a pitch.
Johnson, who replaced Murphy in the sixth, then brought both of them home with his triple off of the left field wall. Roberts plated Johnson with a sacrifice fly, and that cut JSU's lead down to 11-4 at the end of the seventh.
However, that was all the Salukis could get, as the Gamecocks shut down the Dawgs in the eighth and the ninth.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: BEISTLINE,Jo (1-1)
L: Weld, Lee (0-2)
Batting:
3B: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Johnson, Nick 1
RBI: Johnson, Nick 2 ; Roberts, Aaron 2
SF: Roberts, Aaron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murphy, Chris 1 ; Johnson, Nick 1 ; Montgomery, Austin 1 ; Neece, Wes 1
HBP: Neece, Wes 1
Batting:
2B: SEGUIN,Blake 1 ; LEACH,Steven 1 ; ADAMSON,Dani 1 ; EBERLE,Sam 2
3B: CUNNINGHAM 1
HR: EBERLE,Sam 1
RBI: SMITH,Bert 1 ; SEGUIN,Blake 2 ; LEACH,Steven 2 ; ADAMSON,Dani 1 ; EBERLE,Sam 5
Base Running:
RUNS: CUNNINGHAM 1 ; LEACH,Steven 1 ; SHARROCK,Jak 3 ; ADAMSON,Dani 2 ; EBERLE,Sam 2 ; LAMBERT,Cal 2
PO: SMITH,Bert 1
