Memphis takes opener over SIU with walk off home run

Friday, March 10

Memphis, Tenn.

4 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

7-6

Memphis

8-5

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

03/10/2017 | 7:59:00 | Baseball

Box Score

By: By John Lock | SIUSalukis.com

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Memphis shortstop Alec Trela hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth, and Memphis (8-5) beat Southern Illinois 4-3 on Friday afternoon at FedExPark. SIU (7-6) lost its third-straight road game, each by a single run.

"That's a typical Friday game," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "There were two pitchers out there with ERAs under 2.00. It's going to be a battle, and every AB is huge. We played very well, but we didn't play well enough to win."

Facing its toughest test of the season, SIU responded well. Memphis starter Alex Hicks entered the game with a 1.84 ERA, and the Tigers gave him a 1-0 lead in the second inning. In the fourth, Greg Lambert singled; Nick Hutchins worked a 10-pitch walk; and Jake Hand made it hurt with a two-out, two-run double to give SIU the lead.

SIU starter Chad Whitmer was outstanding in his fourth start of 2017. He pitched a career-high eight innings, allowing only two earned runs and striking out six.

"That's why he throws on Fridays. He can match anybody's ace," Henderson said. "He's tough enough to compete when he's not getting a lot of runs because of who we're facing. He's been that guy for three years now. That was a special effort."

Memphis tied the game in the bottom of the fourth and took a 3-2 lead in the seventh, but SIU battled back again. Connor Kopach walked in the eighth and advanced to third on a wild pickoff attempt. With one out, Ryan Smith came through with an RBI single to tie up the game.

"We just need to stay the course," Henderson said. "We did a lot of great things. It was a good ball game. We just didn't come out on the good end. It's going to turn. We just have to stay at it. We're too good. We play too hard. Our effort tonight was phenomenal."

For as hard as the Salukis fought back, they didn't catch any breaks. In the second inning, Hand hit a line drive on a hit-and-run, but it was right at Memphis right fielder Nick Vaage for a lineout double play. In the sixth inning with a runner on second, Greg Lambert crushed a ball to left field, but a 15 mph wind was blowing straight in and rendered it a harmless fly out. Then, in the ninth, the wind completely died, allowing Trela's shot to leave the yard.

"For eight innings, hitting conditions were absolutely brutal," Henderson said. "Greg Lambert hit a ball as well as you can hit it. Another day, it's probably on top of our bus in the parking lot. Then you look at the flag in the ninth, and it's limp. That's baseball. We had some good ABs with nothing to show for it."

Southern will try to even the series on Saturday at noon, with Michael Baird taking the mound. Last year, SIU lost on Friday before bouncing back to win the series with wins on Saturday and Sunday. SIU has lost its last three road games by a combined three runs.

"We're not winning as much as we'd like to, but we're doing too many good things," Henderson said. "We're a good ball club and we're talented; things just aren't going our way right now. We're not going to change a thing. We will keep battling, keep competing. With Michael Baird on the hill tomorrow, we feel good."