SIU drops 18-17 shootout at Belmont

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - In a wild four-hour game, The Southern Illinois baseball team lost 18-17 at Belmont on Tuesday afternoon at Rose Park. The 35 combined runs were the fifth-most in SIU program history.

SIU trailed 18-9 after six innings but scored seven unanswered runs to head into the ninth down just 18-16. The first two batters of the ninth inning reached for SIU and were bunted into scoring position by Ryan Sabo. Hunter Anderson hit a rocket between third and short, but Belmont (4-4) made a diving play to save the tying run. With two outs, Will Farmer hit another hot shot, but it was right at the third baseman to end the game.

"I'm proud of our team for that. Even the bench, nobody quit," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "It would be easy to quit. I told them, that was probably the best in two or three years of guys not quitting, continuing to battle and find a way. All of the sudden, we had the tying run in scoring position, and we got two good swings at it in the ninth. That's the one thing we can build on. We're never out of it, and we battled to the end."

Ironically, the high-scoring game started with three scoreless frames. SIU's offense was consistent all night—the Salukis (4-4) scored in the final seven-straight innings to close the game. Belmont's offense scored all 18 runs in just four innings—four in the second, five in the fourth, two in the fifth and seven in the sixth. In those four innings, SIU handed out 11 walks and one hit by pitch. Ten of those 12 free passes went on to score.

"It's sad to give up 12 free passes in a Division I baseball game," Henderson said. "That's the difference in the game. If you don't walk people and don't give up free passes, people don't score and you win. We need to find more guys who can throw the ball in the strike zone."

When SIU pitched scoreless innings in the first, third, seventh and eighth, Southern allowed just one free base. Of Belmont's 14 hits in the game, six were infield singles and two more were lost in the lights, though SIU didn't help itself defensively with four errors after coming into the game with the best fielding percentage in the MVC.

Southern Illinois stayed in the game with its offense. The Salukis pounded out five home runs by five different players; Hunter Anderson, Logan Blackfan, Will Farmer, Greg Lambert and Ryan Sabo all went deep in the loss. After Belmont's seven-run sixth pushed the Bruins lead to 18-9, SIU responded with a five-run seventh, which included home runs by Farmer, Sabo and Blackfan.

"I'm proud of our offense for competing, and I'm proud of our team for not giving up," Henderson said. "It's 18-9 in the sixth inning, and that's probably has good battle as we've had. We barreled up two balls to end the game with a chance to tie it. I'm proud of our effort in terms of playing hard and not giving in."

After SIU's five-run seventh got the game within 18-14, freshmen Alex Gutermuth and Brad Harrison pitched back-to-back shutout innings. Neither Harrison (5.1 IP) or Gutermuth (2.1 IP) has given up a run this year.

"Great job by Alex Gutermuth and Brad Harrison—two freshmen—coming in and throwing strikes," Henderson said. "They threw up zeros and gave our offense a chance to win the game. Those two guys did a great job."

Southern Illinois has lost four of its last five after starting the season 3-0. The Salukis host Western Illinois in the home opener on Friday, March 3, at 2 p.m. in Itchy Jones Stadium. The Salukis and Leathernecks will play a three-game series, with games starting at 2 p.m., 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

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Team Stats

Logan Blackfan

Hunter Anderson

Will Farmer

Ryan Smith

Players Mentioned

Hunter Anderson

Logan Blackfan

Will Farmer

Alex Gutermuth

Brad Harrison

Greg Lambert

Ryan Sabo

Players Mentioned

Hunter Anderson

Logan Blackfan

Will Farmer

Alex Gutermuth

Brad Harrison

Greg Lambert

Ryan Sabo

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