Saturday, April 1
Carbondale, Ill.
2 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
14-14, 2-0
5
vs
2
Evansville
8-19, 0-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Evansville
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
5
3
Southern Illinois
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
3
5
7
2
Lambert's walk-off homer lifts SIU to 5-2 win over Evansville
04/01/2017 | 6:23:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Greg Lambert hit a three-run walk-off home run to give the Southern Illinois baseball team a 5-2 series-clinching win over Evansville on Saturday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium. With two on and two outs, Lambert got a green light on a 3-0 count and won the game with a shot over the left-centerfield wall.Â
"He's our best," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said of Lambert. "That's why he hits in the three-hole, and that's why I continue to put him in the three-hole. He can flat-out hit. Everybody gets into a little bit of a funk, but that (green light on 3-0 count) was a no-brainer. That was the easiest decision I had all day. You give your three-hole hitter three shots to win the game for you. I have all the trust in the world in Greg Lambert there. He knows what he's looking for, and obviously, he got it."
Evansville (8-19, 0-2 MVC) trailed 2-0 entering the ninth inning but scored twice to tie the game. Will Farmer led off the bottom of the ninth with a single up the middle. Ryan Sabo put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to put Farmer into scoring position. Connor Kopach was hit by a pitch before Ryan Smith popped out for the second out of the inning. Lambert crushed the fourth pitch of his at-bat to win the game.Â
"Coach told us in the dugout, 'If we get the leadoff guy on, we're going to win the game,'" Lambert said. "I knew if Schmitty didn't get it done, I was going to do my best to get it done. I got my pitch to hit, and I did what I was supposed to do."
Southern Illinois starter Michael Baird added another page to his resume for MVC Pitcher of the Year. He threw eight shutout innings and pitched into the ninth. Fifty of his first 65 pitches were strikes, and he tied a season-high with seven strikeouts. SIU scraped out a couple runs to take a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning. Baird was pulled after walking the first two batters in the ninth, his only two walks of the game.Â
"It starts with Michael Baird," Henderson said. "That was a great swing by Greg Lambert, and that's what everybody is going to be talking about, but we don't win that game without Michael Baird. That was a thing of beauty. For eight innings, he was in complete control. He's a joy to watch, even for a guy like me who's been around for a long time. He can flat-out pitch. That's a lost art, and he's been doing it every weekend for 22 weeks in a row, and he's not doing it with a 95-mile-per-hour fastball. He's doing it with an unbelievable ability to pitch. What a joy it is to watch."
With runners on first and second and no outs in the top of the ninth, SIU (14-14, 2-0 MVC) turned to closer Ryan Netemeyer. Evansville snuck in safely on a double steal, and Andrew Tanous poked a two-run single up the middle to tie the game, 2-2. Netemeyer got out of the rest of the inning without any more damage, and Farmer led off the bottom half with a single to start the rally.
"The one thing that can get lost in all this is that we need to give a ton of credit to Will Farmer.," Henderson said. "Once you get the leadoff hitter on in the ninth inning, you have the momentum again. We were feeling down a little; and with one swing of the bat, the excitement was back in the dugout."
The game was a scoreless tie going into the fifth inning. Connor Kopach drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Ryan Smith made a productive out and moved him to third. He scored on a wild pitch. SIU caught a break for its second run. With Kopach on second and two outs, Lambert hit a towering pop up about five feet in front of the plate. Evansville catcher Travis Tokarek dropped it, and Kopach, who was hustling all the way, scored from second.Â
Southern Illinois is 2-0 to start MVC play for the first time since 2012. The Salukis will go for the sweep on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Itchy Jones Stadium. Joey Marciano will start for the Salukis, and the weather forecast is 70 degrees and sunny.Â
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"He's our best," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said of Lambert. "That's why he hits in the three-hole, and that's why I continue to put him in the three-hole. He can flat-out hit. Everybody gets into a little bit of a funk, but that (green light on 3-0 count) was a no-brainer. That was the easiest decision I had all day. You give your three-hole hitter three shots to win the game for you. I have all the trust in the world in Greg Lambert there. He knows what he's looking for, and obviously, he got it."
Evansville (8-19, 0-2 MVC) trailed 2-0 entering the ninth inning but scored twice to tie the game. Will Farmer led off the bottom of the ninth with a single up the middle. Ryan Sabo put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to put Farmer into scoring position. Connor Kopach was hit by a pitch before Ryan Smith popped out for the second out of the inning. Lambert crushed the fourth pitch of his at-bat to win the game.Â
"Coach told us in the dugout, 'If we get the leadoff guy on, we're going to win the game,'" Lambert said. "I knew if Schmitty didn't get it done, I was going to do my best to get it done. I got my pitch to hit, and I did what I was supposed to do."
Southern Illinois starter Michael Baird added another page to his resume for MVC Pitcher of the Year. He threw eight shutout innings and pitched into the ninth. Fifty of his first 65 pitches were strikes, and he tied a season-high with seven strikeouts. SIU scraped out a couple runs to take a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning. Baird was pulled after walking the first two batters in the ninth, his only two walks of the game.Â
"It starts with Michael Baird," Henderson said. "That was a great swing by Greg Lambert, and that's what everybody is going to be talking about, but we don't win that game without Michael Baird. That was a thing of beauty. For eight innings, he was in complete control. He's a joy to watch, even for a guy like me who's been around for a long time. He can flat-out pitch. That's a lost art, and he's been doing it every weekend for 22 weeks in a row, and he's not doing it with a 95-mile-per-hour fastball. He's doing it with an unbelievable ability to pitch. What a joy it is to watch."
With runners on first and second and no outs in the top of the ninth, SIU (14-14, 2-0 MVC) turned to closer Ryan Netemeyer. Evansville snuck in safely on a double steal, and Andrew Tanous poked a two-run single up the middle to tie the game, 2-2. Netemeyer got out of the rest of the inning without any more damage, and Farmer led off the bottom half with a single to start the rally.
"The one thing that can get lost in all this is that we need to give a ton of credit to Will Farmer.," Henderson said. "Once you get the leadoff hitter on in the ninth inning, you have the momentum again. We were feeling down a little; and with one swing of the bat, the excitement was back in the dugout."
The game was a scoreless tie going into the fifth inning. Connor Kopach drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Ryan Smith made a productive out and moved him to third. He scored on a wild pitch. SIU caught a break for its second run. With Kopach on second and two outs, Lambert hit a towering pop up about five feet in front of the plate. Evansville catcher Travis Tokarek dropped it, and Kopach, who was hustling all the way, scored from second.Â
Southern Illinois is 2-0 to start MVC play for the first time since 2012. The Salukis will go for the sweep on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Itchy Jones Stadium. Joey Marciano will start for the Salukis, and the weather forecast is 70 degrees and sunny.Â
#MVCBaseball highlight: Greg Lambert is the hero for @SIU_Baseball on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/QXXGuLd76m
— Missouri Valley (@MVCsports) April 1, 2017
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Netemeyer, Ryan (1-0)
L: Allinger, Austin (2-1)
Batting:
RBI: Tanous, Andrew 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Hair, Trey 1 ; Crews, Kenton 1
SB: Hair, Trey 1 ; Crews, Kenton 1
CS: Hair, Trey 1
Batting:
HR: Lambert, Greg 1
RBI: Lambert, Greg 3
SH: Sabo, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kopach, Connor 3 ; Lambert, Greg 1 ; Farmer, Will 1
SB: Kopach, Connor 2
CS: Lambert, Greg 1
HBP: Kopach, Connor 1 ; Hutchins, Nick 1
PO: Smith, Ryan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
cf/rf
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballINF
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INF
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
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