Salukis take down Bradley in series opener, 8-3

Thursday, May 18

Peoria, Ill.

11 a.m.

Southern Illinois University

27-27, 10-9

Bradley

19-29, 5-14

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Illinois	0	1	1	1	0	3	0	2	0	8	12	0
Bradley	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	9	2

05/18/2017 | 3:10:00 | Baseball

Box Score

By: By John Lock | SIUSalukis.com

PEORIA, Ill. - The Southern Illinois baseball team beat Bradley 8-3 in the series opener on Thursday at Dozer Park. After Bradley scored three in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game, 3-3, the Salukis answered with three runs in the top of the sixth to take the lead for good.

"I thought we played well," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We did a lot of good things, and Whitmer was outstanding again. Guter threw up a couple zeros to get us out of here. The offense was good. We gave up the three runs, and we came right back with four or five really good ABs to get back on them. Kopach hit the two-run single in the gap. That was the key hit of the game to me. We played well on defense and threw strikes. It was a good, efficient game."

SIU starter Chad Whitmer threw his 10th quality start of the season, allowing just three runs in seven innings. He struck out six in seven innings. In his last six starts, Whitmer has a 2.38 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 45.1 innings.

"He threw strikes. He's not going get himself in trouble. You're going to have to beat him," Henderson said. "He made one mistake, and a guy hit a ball out. Other than that, he was outstanding. His pitch count was low, but he has a short week. I'm glad we got those two insurance runs."

The Salukis took an early 3-0 lead. Dyllin Mucha hit a sac fly in the second inning. Greg Lambert hit a towering solo home run in the third inning that nearly cleared the screen protecting Jefferson Avenue. In the fourth, Ryan Sabo also hit a solo home run.

"We hit the two home runs early, and that's not what we do," Henderson said. "Our guys' eyes got a little big for a couple innings, and we tried to do too much. When we got back to staying on balls and hitting them back up the middle, I thought we were pretty good on offense the last five innings."

Bradley tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Ian Kristan hit a solo homer, and Andy Shadid hit a two-run double later in the inning. But the Salukis answered right back in the next half-inning. Nick Hutchins led off with a single, and Will Farmer executed a hit-and-run single to put runners on first and third with no outs. Sabo drove in one run, and Connor Kopach scored two more with a two-run single.

Kopach put the game out of reach with a two-run triple in the seventh inning. Freshman Alex Gutermuth pitched two scoreless frames to end the game. After allowing a leadoff single in the eighth, he got a double play ball to end the threat, and the Braves never threatened from there.

When he throws strikes, he's going to be good," Henderson said of Gutermuth. "He's going to do his job. He got the big double play ball and cruised from there."

The Salukis have a chance to clinch the series with a win on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.