Jacksonville State cruises to 7-0 series-deciding win over SIU

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CARBONDALE, Ill. - Jacksonville State baseball hit a three-run homer in the top of the first inning and never looked back en route to a 7-0 series-deciding win over Southern Illinois on Sunday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium.

"It was a bad day in every area," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "There's no other way to sum it up. We got our butts beat in every facet of the game."

JSU (12-10) leadoff hitter Dalton Etheridge entered the game hitting .103, but he drew a four-pitch walk to start the game. SIU (12-12) committed an error on a potential double play ball, and cleanup hitter Trent Simpson took an 0-2 belt-high fastball deep over the left field wall to give the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead.

That's all JSU starter Joe McGuire would need. He took a perfect game into the fifth and a no-hitter into the sixth. Connor Kopach broke up McGuire's no-hit bid with a two-out single in the sixth inning.

By that point, the Gamecocks had put the game away with two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Both innings started with leadoff walks. The Saluki bullpen pitched four scoreless innings to end the game. Allen Montgomery pitched two scoreless frames. Mitch Townsend threw a perfect eighth, and Anthony Shimkus struck out the side in the ninth.

"You have to be able to throw the ball where you want to throw it," Henderson said of the opening five innings. "Everything was above the belt. You're going to get beat when you don't have command of anything. Mitch Townsend proved that. He came in out of the bullpen and threw five strikes on six pitches. He got their 3-4-5 hitters out on six pitches. Five of those pitches were where he wanted them to be. He's coming off an injury, so he did not throw a pitch over 80 miles per hour, but he got outs because he threw the ball where he wanted to. To get people out at this level, you have to have command."

After Kopach broke up the no-hitter, Southern's offense ended up with five hits down the stretch. Logan Blackfan was 1-for-3 with a walk. Will Farmer had a one-out single in the ninth, which was followed by a Greg Lambert double. Ultimately, SIU was unable to get any runs home and was shut out for the first time this year.

"I don't know how you take any positives from this," Henderson said. "We had one hit in six innings. We ended up with five and had some good ABs at the end, but we got shut out. If I think about it, maybe I'll take some positives out of it. But at this point, ten minutes after the game, I don't see many positives."

UP NEXT: The Salukis play two mid-week games for the only time all year. SIU hosts Arkansas State on Tuesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. On Wednesday, Southern travels to Eastern Illinois for a 3 p.m. game.

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