Saluki Baseball drops road contest, 7-3, at Murray State

Wednesday, April 6

Murray, Ky.

7:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

18-11-1

Murray State

15-17

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Illinois	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	1
Murray State	0	3	0	0	3	1	0	0	X	7	10	2

04/06/2016 | 12:00:00 | Baseball

Box Score

April 6, 2016

Box Score

MURRAY, Ky. - Southern Illinois rallied early from a three-run deficit, but fell late to Murray State, 7-3, Wednesday night at Johnny Reagan Field. The Racers (15-17) scored the final four runs of the game.

"Murray State just played better than us tonight," head coach Ken Henderson said. "We just did not do enough to win this game. We didn't compete on the mound and did not execute enough at the plate."

Two-out offense was the key early for the Salukis (18-11-1). After falling behind 3-0 in the second inning to the Racers, Southern began chipping away in third inning.

Back-to-back singles from Connor Kopach and Greg Lambert put runners on with two outs for Logan Blackfan. The sophomore first baseman pulled through for SIU, hitting an RBI single through the right side for the first Saluki run of the game.

With a pair of runners in scoring position in the fourth inning with two outs, Braden Mosley made it a 3-2 game, scoring on a MSU wild pitch. The two-out rally continued, as Kopach laced his third hit of the game at the Racer shortstop, scoring Jared Schmidt to tie the game.

After tying the game in the fourth, the SIU offense struggled to produce anything the rest of the way, recording two hits over the final five innings of play. Kopach led the team with three hits, while Blackfan added two. Both had one RBI in the game.

"Connor Kopach had a very good game tonight," Henderson said. "I was proud of his effort at the plate. We had a couple of other guys hit the ball well too. We just have to compete a little better."

Southern will look to get back into the win column starting on Friday, as they open Missouri Valley Conference play against Indiana State. First pitch for the three-game series opener is set for 4 p.m. from Itchy Jones Stadium.