Saturday, February 25
Monroe, La.
2 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
4-2
9
at
0
Louisiana Monroe
2-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Southern Illinois
4
0
0
3
2
0
0
0
0
9
11
0
ULM
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
8
4
Salukis even series at ULM with 9-0 shutout win
02/25/2017 | 6:05:00 | Baseball
MONROE, La. - The Southern Illinois baseball team used a balanced offensive attack and dominant pitching to win 9-0 at Louisiana Monroe on Saturday afternoon at Warhawk Field. After losing in extra innings on Friday night, SIU put up four runs in the first inning and expanded the lead from there to even the series at a game apiece.Â
"We bounced back well," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We didn't play well last night but played extremely well today. I'm proud of our kids for the way they bounced back and got after it today."
SIU (4-2) started the game with a single, walk and another single to load the bases before an out was recorded. Nick Hutchins drove two home with a two-run single, and two more runs scored in the inning on a wild throw on a double steal.Â
"We weren't great on offense last night, and we turn around and put up a four-spot in the first inning today," Henderson said. "When you give Michael Baird a four-run lead, you're going to win most of those games."
Baird (2-0) was dominant again. He scattered four hits over seven shutout innings. In two starts, the preseason MVC Pitcher of the Year has pitched 13.2 scoreless innings and allowed only seven hits.Â
"The sign of a good pitcher is a guy that can go out and compete when he doesn't have his best stuff," Henderson said. "He wasn't as sharp today as he was last weekend, but he went out today and threw seven shutout innings. That's the kind of guy he is. He knows how to pitch, and he's a great competitor."
SIU blew the game open with five runs in the middle innings. Southern started the fourth inning with three-straight singles, capped by Jake Hand's RBI single. Hunter Anderson and Hand then came in to score on wild pitches later in the inning. In the fifth, Hand hit a run-scoring long fly ball that got lost in the sun. He ended up on third and was awarded home after a throwing error ended up in SIU's dugout.Â
"We've talked to our hitters about expanding the lead," Henderson said. "We didn't do a great job of that yesterday or last weekend in the Sunday game, but today we did a really nice job. We stayed on them, and it was crucial to keep expanding the lead."
SIU tied its season high with 11 hits on the game. All nine starters reached base at least once and seven recorded a hit. Ryan Smith went 3-for-3 with two walks, reaching in all five of his plate appearances. Connor Kopach (2-for-4) and Nick Hutchins (2-for-4, 2 RBIs, 2 runs) also had multi-hit games, and Southern Illinois stole five bases. Defensively, SIU played error-free ball and turned double plays to end the seventh and eighth innings.Â
"We had great ABs, even in situations when we didn't get hits," Henderson said. "That's what we were looking to see. Logan Blackfan smoked two balls and didn't get a hit on either one of them. I remember things like that. Our approaches were better all day long. That's a huge step for us."
Henry Boeckmann finished the shutout with two scoreless innings to end the game.Â
Southern Illinois has a chance to win the series on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. CT. Regular Sunday starter Joey Marciano, who is clearned to play, will not make the start after tweaking his arm in last week's win at Stetson.Â
"He's completely healthy and ready to go, but we're going to hold him off as a precautionary measure because he didn't have the normal week to prepare for the game," Henderson said. "We held Austin McPheron off the last two days, hoping we could get through without him. He will start tomorrow. Baird going seven innings really helped us out because our bullpen is at full strength, except for Boeckmann, but this couldn't have worked out better for us for our pitching to be ready to go tomorrow."
"We bounced back well," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We didn't play well last night but played extremely well today. I'm proud of our kids for the way they bounced back and got after it today."
SIU (4-2) started the game with a single, walk and another single to load the bases before an out was recorded. Nick Hutchins drove two home with a two-run single, and two more runs scored in the inning on a wild throw on a double steal.Â
"We weren't great on offense last night, and we turn around and put up a four-spot in the first inning today," Henderson said. "When you give Michael Baird a four-run lead, you're going to win most of those games."
Baird (2-0) was dominant again. He scattered four hits over seven shutout innings. In two starts, the preseason MVC Pitcher of the Year has pitched 13.2 scoreless innings and allowed only seven hits.Â
"The sign of a good pitcher is a guy that can go out and compete when he doesn't have his best stuff," Henderson said. "He wasn't as sharp today as he was last weekend, but he went out today and threw seven shutout innings. That's the kind of guy he is. He knows how to pitch, and he's a great competitor."
SIU blew the game open with five runs in the middle innings. Southern started the fourth inning with three-straight singles, capped by Jake Hand's RBI single. Hunter Anderson and Hand then came in to score on wild pitches later in the inning. In the fifth, Hand hit a run-scoring long fly ball that got lost in the sun. He ended up on third and was awarded home after a throwing error ended up in SIU's dugout.Â
"We've talked to our hitters about expanding the lead," Henderson said. "We didn't do a great job of that yesterday or last weekend in the Sunday game, but today we did a really nice job. We stayed on them, and it was crucial to keep expanding the lead."
SIU tied its season high with 11 hits on the game. All nine starters reached base at least once and seven recorded a hit. Ryan Smith went 3-for-3 with two walks, reaching in all five of his plate appearances. Connor Kopach (2-for-4) and Nick Hutchins (2-for-4, 2 RBIs, 2 runs) also had multi-hit games, and Southern Illinois stole five bases. Defensively, SIU played error-free ball and turned double plays to end the seventh and eighth innings.Â
"We had great ABs, even in situations when we didn't get hits," Henderson said. "That's what we were looking to see. Logan Blackfan smoked two balls and didn't get a hit on either one of them. I remember things like that. Our approaches were better all day long. That's a huge step for us."
Henry Boeckmann finished the shutout with two scoreless innings to end the game.Â
Southern Illinois has a chance to win the series on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. CT. Regular Sunday starter Joey Marciano, who is clearned to play, will not make the start after tweaking his arm in last week's win at Stetson.Â
"He's completely healthy and ready to go, but we're going to hold him off as a precautionary measure because he didn't have the normal week to prepare for the game," Henderson said. "We held Austin McPheron off the last two days, hoping we could get through without him. He will start tomorrow. Baird going seven innings really helped us out because our bullpen is at full strength, except for Boeckmann, but this couldn't have worked out better for us for our pitching to be ready to go tomorrow."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Baird, Michael (2-0)
L: Curtis, K. (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Kopach, Connor 1
3B: Farmer, Will 1
RBI: Hutchins, Nick 2 ; Hand, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kopach, Connor 1 ; Smith, Ryan 1 ; Lambert, Greg 1 ; Hutchins, Nick 3 ; Anderson, Hunter 1 ; Hand, Jake 2
SB: Lambert, Greg 1 ; Hutchins, Nick 2 ; Anderson, Hunter 1 ; Hand, Jake 1
CS: Smith, Ryan 1 ; Hutchins, Nick 1
Batting:
2B: DeLaCruz, J. 2 ; Versage, J. 1
Base Running:
HBP: Hemphill, S. 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
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