Tuesday, March 28
Carbondale, Ill.
5 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
12-13
3
vs
4
Arkansas State
12-12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
R
H
E
Arkansas State
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
4
7
1
Southern Illinois
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
5
1
Salukis fall to Arkansas State 4-3 in 10 innings
03/28/2017 | 9:08:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois baseball team dropped a 4-3 decision to Arkansas State in 10 innings on Tuesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. Southern (12-13) has lost four of its last five to fall under .500 for the first time this season.Â
"We're not playing well right now," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We're not swinging it like we're capable of, and we're certainly not executing pitches. But like I told the guys, it's going to turn. We need to stay at it. More importantly right now, we're not playing with a lot of confidence. We have guys who are really good players that are reeling a little bit. That's part of the nature of baseball. It's a game of ups and downs, and right now we're down. We have to find some confidence. We need to show up with some enthusiasm and some passion for the game again. When we do, it will turn."
SIU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Connor Kopach reached on a dropped third strike, and ASU (12-12) botched a double-play ball to put runners on first and second with no outs. Nick Hutchins made it hurt with a two-run triple, and Hutchins scored on a passed ball.Â
Freshman Henry Boeckmann made his first career start for SIU and responded well. After entering the game with an ERA above 14.00, Boeckmann allowed just one hit and no runs through the first three innings. He was pulled after walking the first two batters in the fourth, but Jamison Steege limited the damage to one run in the fourth.Â
Steege walked the first two batters in the fifth, but Justin Yeager came on and limited that damage to one run. While SIU did well to limit the damage in those innings, the leadoff walks allowed the Red Wolves to score their first two runs without the benefit of a base hit. In the sixth, ASU tied the game when a leadoff hit batsman scored after two singles.Â
"Overall, we gave up three runs in nine innings," Henderson said. "That's not bad, but it's magnified because we're not scoring on offense and because of how those guys got on."
Austin McPheron, who had previously started mid-week games before coming out of the bullpen last weekend, came on to pitch for SIU in the top of the sixth and kept the game tied into the tenth frame. He retired the first nine batters he faced, and he struck out the side in the eighth. He ended up with five strikeouts.Â
"Mac did a good job," Henderson said. "It seems crazy that we're six weeks in and still trying to figure some things out. Some people haven't thrown like they're capable of, so we're moving some roles around. We didn't intend to run him out there for three or four innings, but he did a great job and kept us in the ball game."
Offensively, the Salukis moved runners into scoring position in the seventh and eighth innings. Arkansas State turned to closer Tyler Zuber with two on and two outs in the eighth. Zuber, who came into the game with 32 strikeouts in 21 innings, got out of the jam and pitched 2.1 no-hit innings to earn the win.Â
The Salukis travel to Eastern Illinois on Wednesday for a 3 p.m. first pitch against the Panthers. SIU starts Missouri Valley Conference play this coming weekend when it hosts Evansville at Itchy Jones Stadium.
"My biggest concern with the club right now has nothing to do with at-bats," Henderson said. "It has nothing to do with throwing balls. This is a good group of players. They've had success. They know how to have success. They're down a little bit, and my job is to get them confident again. When we get on that bus tomorrow, it's a new day. They love playing, and we're going to play hard and play with passion. It's going to turn; I guarantee you. We're going to get our confidence back. How quickly we get it back depends on between our ears. If we believe and play with enthusiasm, we'll create our own break."Â
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"We're not playing well right now," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We're not swinging it like we're capable of, and we're certainly not executing pitches. But like I told the guys, it's going to turn. We need to stay at it. More importantly right now, we're not playing with a lot of confidence. We have guys who are really good players that are reeling a little bit. That's part of the nature of baseball. It's a game of ups and downs, and right now we're down. We have to find some confidence. We need to show up with some enthusiasm and some passion for the game again. When we do, it will turn."
SIU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Connor Kopach reached on a dropped third strike, and ASU (12-12) botched a double-play ball to put runners on first and second with no outs. Nick Hutchins made it hurt with a two-run triple, and Hutchins scored on a passed ball.Â
Freshman Henry Boeckmann made his first career start for SIU and responded well. After entering the game with an ERA above 14.00, Boeckmann allowed just one hit and no runs through the first three innings. He was pulled after walking the first two batters in the fourth, but Jamison Steege limited the damage to one run in the fourth.Â
Steege walked the first two batters in the fifth, but Justin Yeager came on and limited that damage to one run. While SIU did well to limit the damage in those innings, the leadoff walks allowed the Red Wolves to score their first two runs without the benefit of a base hit. In the sixth, ASU tied the game when a leadoff hit batsman scored after two singles.Â
"Overall, we gave up three runs in nine innings," Henderson said. "That's not bad, but it's magnified because we're not scoring on offense and because of how those guys got on."
Austin McPheron, who had previously started mid-week games before coming out of the bullpen last weekend, came on to pitch for SIU in the top of the sixth and kept the game tied into the tenth frame. He retired the first nine batters he faced, and he struck out the side in the eighth. He ended up with five strikeouts.Â
"Mac did a good job," Henderson said. "It seems crazy that we're six weeks in and still trying to figure some things out. Some people haven't thrown like they're capable of, so we're moving some roles around. We didn't intend to run him out there for three or four innings, but he did a great job and kept us in the ball game."
Offensively, the Salukis moved runners into scoring position in the seventh and eighth innings. Arkansas State turned to closer Tyler Zuber with two on and two outs in the eighth. Zuber, who came into the game with 32 strikeouts in 21 innings, got out of the jam and pitched 2.1 no-hit innings to earn the win.Â
The Salukis travel to Eastern Illinois on Wednesday for a 3 p.m. first pitch against the Panthers. SIU starts Missouri Valley Conference play this coming weekend when it hosts Evansville at Itchy Jones Stadium.
"My biggest concern with the club right now has nothing to do with at-bats," Henderson said. "It has nothing to do with throwing balls. This is a good group of players. They've had success. They know how to have success. They're down a little bit, and my job is to get them confident again. When we get on that bus tomorrow, it's a new day. They love playing, and we're going to play hard and play with passion. It's going to turn; I guarantee you. We're going to get our confidence back. How quickly we get it back depends on between our ears. If we believe and play with enthusiasm, we'll create our own break."Â
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Zuber, T. (2-0)
L: McPheron, Austin (2-3)
Batting:
2B: Bakamus, J. 1
RBI: Rucker, G. 1 ; Bakamus, J. 1 ; Howard, A. 1 ; Tipton, D. 1
SH: Schrimpf, J. 1 ; Brown, J. 1 ; Bakamus, J. 1
SF: Rucker, G. 1 ; Howard, A. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Felix, J. 2 ; Brown, J. 1 ; Tipton, D. 1
CS: Rucker, G. 1
HBP: Schrimpf, J. 1 ; Brown, J. 2
Batting:
3B: Hutchins, Nick 1
RBI: Hutchins, Nick 2
SH: Smith, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kopach, Connor 1 ; Farmer, Will 1 ; Hutchins, Nick 1
CS: Farmer, Will 1
HBP: Sabo, Ryan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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