Salukis swept by Northern Illinois in Sunday doubleheader

Sunday, March 8

Carbondale, Ill.

1:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

2-11

Northern Illinois

6-6

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Northern Illinois	3	0	0	1	3	0	1	0	0	8	14	3
Southern Illinois	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	8	0

03/08/2015 | 12:00:00 | Baseball

Box Score

March 8, 2015

Box Score

By Rico Cruz
SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill.-Lack of run support cost the Southern Illinois baseball team in a doubleheader today against Northern Illinois. The Salukis dropped the first game, 8-2, and lost a 3-0 decision in the second game, as NIU bounced back from yesterday's loss to win the series, 2-1.

Just like Saturday's game, NIU (7-6) jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Salukis (2-12) after the top of the first inning of game one. Southern answered with one run in the bottom of the frame. Dyllin Mucha singled to start the inning, but was caught trying to steal second base. Will Farmer walked and Greg Lambert singled to extend his hitting streak to nine games. With runners in scoring position, Logan Blackfan hit a groundball out to the pitcher that scored Farmer and cut the lead to 3-1 after the first inning.

"We gave up the three-runs in the first inning and you can't do that," said SIU head coach Ken Henderson. "It was (Michael) Baird's first career start and he is going to be good for us. I'm sure that there were some nerves involved, but once he settled in, he did a good job for us."

The Huskies picked up a run in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 7-1 lead. Baird gave up seven runs on nine hits in his 4.1 innings of work. Baird did record a career-high seven strikeouts in his first career start.

Southern would add a run in the sixth after Blackfan opened the inning with a double and Jake Hand drove him in with a single into left-centerfield, scoring the first baseman and making the score 7-2.The run in the sixth would be the last SIU would collect on the day. The Salukis gathered eight hits in the opening game, but left 10 runners on base.

SIU's pitching improved in the second game, but the Salukis were unable to get much offense going against NIU in the 3-0 loss. Kyle Pauly, making his second start of the season, held the Huskies scoreless through the first four innings of play.

"I'm proud of our guys because of the way they came back in game two," Henderson said. "They battled, had good energy, good effort, but we just couldn't find a way to score. You have to give Northern Illinois credit. They do a tremendous job battling with two strikes."

NIU scored its first two runs in the fifth. Pauly gave up a lead-off single to start the inning and was replaced by Bryce Sablotny. A wild pitch allowed the NIU baserunner to advance to second. A stolen base and a pair of hits later, Southern was down, 2-0.The Huskies added a run in the eighth to make it a 3-0 game and clinch the series.

NIU pitcher Ryan Olson picked up the win after he held the Salukis to five hits over six innings of work. Pauly fell to 0-2 on the season.

Southern will have a quick turnaround, as it travels to Nashville, Tenn. for a matchup with Belmont on Tuesday. That game is set to begin at 4 p.m. CT. Fans can tune into WVZA 105.1-FM for audio of the game.