Southern swept by No. 16 Missouri State in 11-inning heartbreaker

Sunday, May 7

Carbondale, Ill.

1 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

23-26, 6-9

Missouri State

33-14, 14-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Missouri State	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	7	0
Southern Illinois	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	9	4

Southern swept by No. 16 Missouri State in 11-inning heartbreaker

05/07/2017 | 7:51:00 | Baseball

Box Score

By: By John Lock | SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois baseball team lost an 11-inning heartbreaker in the series finale vs. No. 16 Missouri State, 7-4. MSU shortstop Jeremy Eierman hit a three-run homer in the 11th after the Salukis missed a pair of scoring opportunities in the ninth and 10th innings. SIU (23-26, 6-9 MVC) was swept for the first time this season.

"We played well. They got the clutch hit, and we didn't," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We had opportunities and put ourselves into position to win a couple times; we just couldn't get that big hit. We gave ourselves a chance. We got down 3-0 in the first inning, and we came back, competed, and battled all day."

Jamison Steege was the highlight of the game for SIU. After starter Joey Marciano was pulled in the first inning after five walks, Steege came in and shut down Missouri State for seven innings. In by far his longest and best outing as a Saluki, Steege scattered five hits over 6.2 innings and surrendered just one unearned run.

"I'm awfully proud of Jamison," Henderson said. "He was called on in the first inning. There's no way he thought he was going to have to do that. Then to come in and throw 6.2 and give up no earned runs, that's a special effort. It was certainly the highlight of the day."

Trailing 3-0 after the top half of the first, the Salukis battled back. Nick Hutchins led off the second with a double and stole third. Will Farmer drove him home with an RBI groundout. In the third inning, Ryan Smith extended his hitting streak to 12 games, and Greg Lambert followed with a single of his own. Jake Hand hit his second three-run homer of the series to give SIU a 4-3 lead.

Missouri State tied the game on an unusual play in the fifth. With runners on first and second, MSU hit a chopper to third. Ryan Sabo made a leaping attempt at the ball, and Eierman crashed into Sabo and flipped him. Farmer was backing up the play, but his throw home to get Eierman was wild. Neither team scored again until the 11th. Southern moved the game-winning run into scoring position in the ninth and 10th innings but went 0-for-3 with a walk in the chances to win.

"We put ourselves in a position to win," Henderson said. "We had four ABs with a chance to win it. We need to have better ABs in those situations."

Missouri State (33-14, 14-0 MVC) ran its conference winning streak to 18 games, dating back to the end of last season. The No. 16-ranked Bears have a chance to tie the league winning streak record with a win on Friday against Indiana State. With six MVC games still to go in the regular season, the Bears have already virtually clinched the MVC title. With an RPI in the top-20, Missouri State is in contention to host a regional in the NCAA Tournament.

But the Salukis hung right with the high-powered Bears throughout the weekend. In the opener, six walks over the final two innings handed the Bears a 7-5 win. In game two, MSU's two big innings scored 13 runs on just five hits. Today, the Bears scored three first-inning runs on five walks and an error. In the three-game series, the teams were an identical 28-for-115 from the plate. Maybe most impressively, Saluki pitching limited All-American and future first-round MLB draft pick Jake Burger to 2-for-15 (.133) in the series.

"There are no moral victories. We didn't come out here to play them tight. We're here to win," Henderson said. "You won't find anybody who feels good right now, I guarantee you."

Closer Ryan Netemeyer entered with one out in the eighth inning and escaped a jam. He pitched scoreless ninth and 10th innings to give SIU a chance. He went back for the 11th and took the loss after walking the first two before surrendering the Eierman home run. The homer snapped Netemeyer's streak of 23 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.

"I'm proud of Netemeyer, too. He did a great job," Henderson said. "I don't know if that's fair to your closer to have him out there in his fourth inning. He's our best option at that point, even though it's his fourth inning, but I don't know if that's fair to him. He throws an inning and a time, and you stick him out there for four. I'm not making excuses for him because he'll tell you he shouldn't have walked the two guys, but he did a great job."

Southern Illinois does not have a mid-week game this upcoming week while the team takes finals. The Salukis host Illinois State next weekend for a three-game series. After a season-best five-game winning streak, Southern has lost a season-high six-straight games.

"We'll be fine," Henderson said. "We've done a really good job. We've preached to control what we can control. We can't control today anymore. It's over. We will put it behind us and turn the page and get ready to go. We've done that all year. That's not a concern."