Five-run first pushes Belmont past SIU, 9-3

Tuesday, April 18

Carbondale, Ill.

5 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

18-20

Belmont

17-18

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Belmont	5	0	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	9	13	1
Southern Illinois	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	7	1

04/18/2017 | 8:33:00 | Baseball

Box Score

By: By John Lock | SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Belmont scored five runs on five hits in the top of the first inning and cruised to a 9-3 win over the Southern Illinois baseball team on Tuesday evening at Itchy Jones Stadium.

Belmont's first seven hitters were 5-for-5 with a pair of sacrifice flies. Hunter Holland's two-run home run punctuated the inning and gave the Bruins (17-18) a comfortable lead before Southern's first time at bat.

"When things aren't going your way, the first thing you lose is confidence," head coach Ken Henderson said. "We don't have a lot of confidence right now. That's the No. 1 thing. When you give up five runs, it's hard to have confidence."

After that, the teams played basically an even game the rest of the way. Both teams had traffic on the bases all game, but Belmont turned four double plays and the Salukis (18-20) turned three. The teams combined to strike out only seven times. The Bruins had eight hits the rest of the way, while Southern had seven. Each team committed an error. At the end of the day, the five-run first propelled Belmont to the season sweep of the Salukis after the Bruins won an 18-17 shootout in February.

"I heard (Mike) Matheney talk about the same thing with the Cardinals. It's just confidence," Henderson said. "The same guys have done this before. When you're hitting .350, it's easy. When you're hitting .220, you have to be mentally tough enough to battle through it. I don't have a magic switch. I wish I did."

Southern scored all three of its runs in the sixth inning. Addison Fugitt was hit by a pitch and Connor Kopach singled. After a double play, Fugitt scored on a wild pitch. Greg Lambert started a two-out rally with a double, and Logan Blackfan belted a two-run homer. Blackfan and Ryan Smith led SIU with 2-for-4 games.

The Salukis made a number of nice defensive plays in the game. Ryan Sabo's diving stop started Southern's first double play. Blackfan made a running catch in foul territory with his back to the field. Kopach started a double play after snaring a sharp liner on a short hop, and Ryan Smith made a diving catch in center field before doubling off a runner. Southern Illinois has turned an MVC-leading 40 double plays this season.

Southern Illinois hosts OVC-leading Tennessee Tech this weekend at Itchy Jones Stadium. The Golden Eagles are 30-9 and 16-2 in the OVC. First pitch Friday night is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.