Baseball drops Valley opener to Creighton, 4-2

Friday, March 26

Carbondale, Ill.

3:00 P.M.

Southern Illinois University

9-13, 0-1

Creighton

11-5, 1-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Creighton	0	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	4	7	0
Southern Illinois	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	1

03/26/2010 | 12:00:00 | Baseball

Box Score

March 26, 2010

By Jason Clay
www.SIUSalukis.com

Box Score

CARBONDALE, Ill. - A pair of wild pitches and a lack of offensive support cost the Salukis as the Southern Illinois baseball team lost to Creighton, 4-2, Friday in the Missouri Valley Conference opener at a soggy Abe Martin Field.

Rain had poured down in Carbondale on Thursday and more expected rain in the forecast for Sunday has caused the final two games of the series to be played in a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at noon.

The game was tied at two in the fifth, but a wild pitch from Ryan Bradley allowed the Creighton base runners to advance to second and third. The go-ahead run later came home on a groundout and CU got its fourth run in the seventh on a wild pitch from Lee Weld.

"The wild pitch hurts," head coach Callahan said. "You can't give away runs in those situations and that's what we did."

Southern Illinois (9-13, 0-1 MVC) out-hit Creighton (11-5, 1-0) 8-7, but didn't score a run after the third inning. Bluejay starting pitcher Jonas Dufek (4-0) earned the win, as he lasted six innings and gave up six hits and the two Saluki runs. Jack VanLeur recorded his third save of the year for CU.

"We had been swinging the bats well up to today and I didn't think we swung the bats poorly, I just thought we gave away some (at-bats)," Callahan said. "Dufek made it simple. He threw a couple off-speed pitches for strikes and he pounded the zone. That's how easy it can be and he didn't do it in an overpowering fashion, he did it in an energy-efficient fashion."

Bradley (0-2) drew the loss, but he pitched an effective game for the Salukis. He also lasted six innings where he allowed five hits and three runs. Weld threw two innings and only gave up two hits and the one run that came home on his seventh-inning wild pitch.

Blake Pinnon and Brock Harding led SIU with two hits apiece. Harding had one of three Saluki doubles in the game and he scored the second run when Chris Murphy brought him home on a double. The first run came off of a Chris Serritella monster home run in the first inning.

Creighton right fielder TJ Roemmich was 2-for-4 with one run scored and Bluejay designated hitter Scott Thornburg went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Serritella gave SIU a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with his ninth homer of the season. He took a 3-1 pitch well over the right-field wall.

Creighton got that run back in the second, but it could have been more as Bradley got Robbie Knight to pop out to center with the bases loaded.

Harding led off the third inning with a double to right center and two batters later, Murphy brought him home with a double to the same spot.

Just like they did after Serritella's homer, the Jays answered SIU's second run in the top of the fourth. Carson Vitale led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Scott Thornburg lined a single to left and Nick Johnson's throw was relayed into Tyler Bullock a t the plate, but his tag missed Vitale and the game moved to a 2-2 tie.

The Bluejays took their first lead with one run in the fifth. CU had runners on first and second with one out, but a wild pitch from Bradley moved them both up a bag. Then a groundout from Trever Adams allowed Knight to come home from third.

Another wild pitch cost SIU a run in the top of the seventh. There were two outs when Creighton had Alex Staehely on third base, but Weld threw one in the dirt and the ball got to the backstop allowing Staehely to come home to give the Jays a 4-2 lead.

Southern Illinois' best chance to score came in the bottom of the seventh, when Johnson was on second base with one out. However, the Bluejay bullpen locked it down and kept SIU off the board to win the conference opener.

Saturday's doubleheader is the second in as many weeks for the Salukis. The second game will begin approximately 30 minutes after the first game ends.