Saluki Baseball wins series opener against Missouri State, 5-4

Friday, May 6

Springfield, Mo.

6:30 PM

Southern Illinois University

26-19-1, 7-6

Missouri State

29-15, 3-9

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Illinois	0	2	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	5	9	0
Missouri State	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	1	4	11	1

Saluki Baseball wins series opener against Missouri State, 5-4

05/06/2016 | 12:00:00 | Baseball

Box Score

May 6, 2016

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Southern Illinois took an early lead and held on in the ninth inning to defeat Missouri State, 5-4, at Hammons Field on Friday.

"Tonight was a great ball game that was well played by both teams," head coach Ken Henderson said. "We got an early lead and we pitched well enough to hold on and get the win."

Taylor Martin earned his first Friday start of the season behind the plate and did not disappoint. The redshirt senior staked the Salukis (26-19-1, 7-6 MVC) to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second, hitting a two-run shot over the left field wall for his third home run of the season. The lead grew to 3-0 in the third behind a sacrifice fly from Logan Blackfan that was deep enough to plate Connor Kopach.

SIU starter Chad Whitmer puzzled the MSU (29-15, 3-9 MVC) hitters through the first five innings, limiting the best hitting team in the Missouri Valley Conference to only two hits. It was in the sixth that Whitmer ran into a speed bump. The Bears were able to string together some offense to score two runs, but a great relay throw from Will Farmer to home stopped the potential tying run from scoring.

Holding onto a one run lead entering the seventh, the Salukis swung momentum back into their favor and put the pressure back on the Bears. Back-to-back singles from Kopach and Dyllin Mucha to open the inning got things rolling for SIU. After a flyout to left field for the first out of the inning, Blackfan stepped into the batter's box and sliced a two-run double into left
centerfield to extend the lead to 5-2.

The defense continued to make plays behind Whitmer, this time in the bottom of the seventh inning. With runners on the corners and no outs, Greg Lambert showed off his arm strength on a throw to home to stop yet another MSU runner from scoring. The Bears cut the lead to 5-3 in the eighth and had momentum in their corner in the ninth after pushing a run across the plate with one out in the inning. With the game winning run on first base and only one out, Ryan Netemeyer induced a game ending 6-4-3 double play to seal the Saluki win.

"You know it is going to be a close game when you face a pitcher and team like Missouri State on a Friday night," said Henderson. "We got two huge outs at the plate that changed the game for us. We played flawless defense tonight and we needed to."

Whitmer earned the win after seven strong innings on the mound, while Netemeyer earned his ninth save of the season. Blackfan led all players with three RBIs.

With the win, Southern will look to clinch the series on Saturday when LHP Joey Marciano takes the mound. First pitch is at 2 p.m. from Hammons Field.