Wind-blown homer pushes Jacksonville State over SIU, 10-9

Saturday, February 17

Oxford, Ala.

1 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

0-2

Jacksonville State

2-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Illinois	1	0	0	3	0	3	0	2	0	9	11	0
Jacksonville State	0	1	1	0	0	0	5	3	X	10	14	2

02/17/2018 | 7:15:00 | Baseball

Box Score

By: By John Lock | SIUSalukis.com

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OXFORD, Miss. - The Southern Illinois baseball team dropped a 10-9 heartbreaker to Jacksonville State on Saturday afternoon at Choccolocco Park. The Gamecocks (2-0) clinched the series with eight runs over their final two innings.

SIU led 9-7 with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth inning. JSU's Taylor Hawthorne hit what initially appeared to be a routine pop-out to left field. But with a strong win blowing out and a fence generously listed as 325 down the line, the fly ball caught the wind and carried just beyond the fence and just inside the foul pole.

"I'm proud of our guys," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We played well; it just didn't work out. We will continue to get better, and we were a pretty good baseball team today. It looks bad when you give up 10 runs, but we only walked one guy and this (park) is a hitter's paradise. The wind was blowing 30 miles per hour straight out and it's about 300 feet down the lines, and our guys competed and made them earn it. Give Jacksonville State credit; they earned it, but we're going to be an awfully good ball club if we play like this."

The loss spoiled a great day for Southern's hitters throughout the lineup and a quality start from starter Jamison Steege. The senior left-hander went six innings in just 74 pitches and allowed only two runs.

"Jamison Steege was outstanding," Henderson said. "If he pitches like that all year, he's going to win a ton of ball games. He was good as could be."

Southern pounded out 11 hits, including three home runs. In the fourth inning, J.T. Weber and Drew Curtis hit back-to-back home runs. In the sixth, Logan Blackfan hit a two-run homer, his third home run already this season. Seven of the nine spots in the order had at least one hit, and Blackfan, Connor Kopach and Austin Ulick had two-hit days.

"We were good today," Henderson said. "Today, guys did what they've been doing in practice. We took much better swings. We had two-out and two-strike swings that turned into RBIs. Up and down the lineup, we did a good job."

Kopach, who ranked fourth in the NCAA last year with 33 stolen bases, went 3-for-5 and stole two bags. Addison Fugitt came into the game off the bench and went 1-for-1 with two stolen bases, and Alex Lyon also stole a base.

"We were able to get the speed guys on base and create some havoc," Henderson said. "We stole five bases today. That's what we do. When Kopach get on, we're going to score a lot of runs. We had guys step up in crucial situations. We got guys in when we had them on base."

Ulick collected his first two Division I hits, and both were clutch. His RBI single in the sixth came with two outs to build Southern's lead to 7-2. Jacksonville State seized momentum with a five-run seventh inning, but the Salukis came right back and loaded the bases in the top of the eighth. Ulick again came through with a two-run single to give SIU a 9-7 lead. Ulick appeared to be the game's hero until Hawthorne's wind-blown homer in the bottom of the inning.

"It wasn't a bad pitch. It wasn't even a strike," Henderson said of the Hawthorne home run. "The guy hits a routine fly ball and it finds a way to get out. But you play the elements, so give them credit. They put a bat on it. I don't want to take anything away from them. We made them beat us, and he put the bat on the ball and did it. That's just a tough break, and that's part of the game."

The Salukis (0-2) will try to salvage a game in the season-opening series on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m., and Mason Hiser will take the mound for Southern in his first Division I start.