Southern's season ends in MVC Tournament loss to No. 12 Missouri State

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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Southern Illinois baseball team's season came to an end with a 13-3 run-rule loss to No. 12 Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday afternoon. SIU led 3-2 after six innings before the Bears exploded for eight runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to win by the 10-run rule.

SIU, which ended the season with a 27-30 record, couldn't have had a better start to the game. Ryan Smith and Greg Lambert hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning. Will Farmer hit another solo shot in the second to chase MSU ace Jordan Knutson after just four outs.

"We can play with them, and we did. Tough loss," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "I said our kids would come to play today, and they did. I knew they would."

MSU (38-16) turned to Austin Knight with runners on the corners and one out. Knight hit Smith to load the bases with one out, but he pitched out of the jam. Southern put two on with nobody out in the fourth inning, but MSU cut down a runner at third trying to advance on a ball in the dirt to help pitch out of that jam.

"We had opportunities to expand the lead early, and we didn't get it done," Henderson said. "That was crucial. In the second and fourth, we had opportunities and couldn't get the big hit. That's been our thing all year."

SIU starter Michael Baird took the ball after missing the last two weeks of the regular season with a sore arm. He regained his old form and held the potent Bears offense down for most of the day. Through six innings, he allowed just two runs on a single and subsequent home run in the fourth inning.

"Baird was outstanding," Henderson said. "He hadn't thrown in three weeks and got tired, obviously. We had to get him out of there, and we didn't get it done in the bullpen."

After a hit by pitch and a walk with one out in the seventh, Baird was pulled. Missouri State pounced on the bullpen with a walk and a single to tie the game. With the bases loaded, MVC Player of the Year Jake Burger hit a grand slam to blow the game open.

"When he comes up in that situation, he's going to make you pay, and he did," Henderson said of Burger.

The Bears kept going with another walk, a single, an RBI double and a sac fly. An SIU error scored another run. At the end of the frame, MSU had turned a one-run deficit into a seven-run lead. MSU scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to walk off with the run-rule win.

The game marked the ends of 11 careers for Saluki seniors. After going 12-46 in 2015, the group made the biggest turnaround in Division I baseball in 2016. Over the last two years, SIU won 57 games and finished in the top half of the MVC back-to-back years for the first time in more than a decade.

"I'm proud of this group," Henderson said. "I'm proud of our seniors and what they've done for this program. They stuck with us. The team won 12 games two years ago, and they came back and did what they've done the last two years. They brought complete respectability back to the program. They laid the foundation for good things in the future. I'm proud of those guys."

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