Southern Illinois University
11-38, 0
Evansville
26-19, 0
Southern edges Evansville, 5-4, in series finale
05/03/2015 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
By Rico Cruz
SIUSalukis.com
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Southern Illinois scored five runs in the first two innings and the lead held up in a 5-4 win over Evansville on Sunday.
"We did a good job early, we were aggressive at the plate, and I was happy about that," said SIU head coach Ken Henderson. "We had some other opportunities and gave away some at-bats in the middle of the game. They changed pitchers several times and their guys got us out front, but I am proud of our guys today."
Southern (11-38, 6-12 MVC) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead over the Purple Aces (26-19, 8-10 MVC) in the first inning, with all four runs coming with two outs. Will Farmer scored the first run of the game on a bases loaded wild pitch. After Logan Blackfan drew a walk to load the bases again, Nick Hutchins ripped a two-run single up the middle, scoring Parker Osborne and Tyler Rolland. Ryan Sabo followed Hutchins with a hard hit single that the UE shortstop could not handle, scoring Blackfan for the fourth run of the inning.
SIU picked up another run in the second inning to extend its lead to 5-0. Chase Slone got the offense going with a single into left field and advanced to second on a passed ball. Slone scored when Osborne singled into left field and UE's Korbin Williams misplayed the ball for an error.
The Purple Aces made the game interesting in the fifth inning, scoring three runs off of SIU starter Kyle Pruemer, to make it a 5-3 contest. Colin Holderman entered the game in relief in the inning, keeping it a two-run lead as he got a strikeout and a groundball out with the bases loaded to end the UE threat. Pruemer's day was over after 4.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits.
Holderman went the rest of the way for the Salukis and earned the win, allowing just a single run in the eighth inning. He improved to 2-1 on the season after pitching 4.2 innings with four strikeouts. He scattered five hits and didn't issue a single walk.
"Colin was outstanding down the stretch today," said Henderson. "He made big pitch after big pitch. Our defense was also outstanding today. We played great defense on one of the toughest playing surfaces that we will play on all year."
Blackfan and Hutchins had two hits each to lead SIU offensively. Blackfan's double in the fifth inning was his 19th of the season and it tied him for eighth-place in Saluki history for most doubles in a season.
The Salukis will return to action on Friday as they host Missouri State in their final MVC series of the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Holderman, Colin (2-1)
L: Strain (3-5)
Batting:
2B: Farmer, Will 1 ; Blackfan, Logan 1
RBI: Hutchins, Nick 2 ; Sabo, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Slone, Chase 1 ; Farmer, Will 1 ; Osborne, Parker 1 ; Rolland, Tyler 1 ; Blackfan, Logan 1
SB: Lambert, Greg 1
HBP: Rolland, Tyler 2
Batting:
2B: Kaczmarski 2 ; Williams 1
RBI: McKibban 2 ; Ramon 1 ; Lipari 1
SH: Sullivan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Perry 1 ; Williams 1 ; Sullivan 1 ; Nelson 1
HBP: Foley 1
