Steege's gem propels SIU to 6-2 win at North Florida

Saturday, February 24

Jacksonville, Fla.

1 p.m. CT

Southern Illinois University

2-4

North Florida

2-4

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

02/24/2018 | 5:23:00 | Baseball

Box Score

By: By John Lock | SIUSalukis.com

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Starting pitcher Jamison Steege threw eight shutout innings to lead Saluki Baseball to a 6-2 win on Saturday afternoon at North Florida. SIU (2-4) evened the series after losing in extra innings on Friday night.

"First and foremost, after a tough loss last night, we needed to show up ready to go. We talk about changing the culture, and our guys did a great job of rebounding and being ready to go. I'm proud of their mentality and makeup," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said.

Steege was dominant in his eight innings. Only two UNF (2-4) runners advanced into scoring position against Steege and only one made it to third base. In two starts, Steege has a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings. He's limited opponents to a .180 batting average and hasn't walked a batter.

"He's the storyline of the game," Henderson said. "He only gave up four hits, no walks and no runs in eight innings; that's a phenomenal line. He's not going to beat himself; you're going to have to beat him. He's going to pound the zone. He did a great job. When Jamison is throwing like that, it's fun to play behind him, and it's a fun ballgame."

Connor Kopach led the offense. He led off the game with a single and stole second. After Nikola Vasic was hit by a pitch, Kopach and Vasic executed a double steal, and Logan Blackfan drove both runs home to give SIU a 2-0 lead before North Florida had an at-bat.

"We were aggressive and made some things happen," Henderson said. "We put pressure on people. That's what we want to do, and that's how we have to play. Get people on and put pressure on teams, and good things happen."

The score stayed 2-0 until the top of the seventh. Brad Harrison led off with a walk, and Mitch Fairfield put down a perfect sacrifice bunt that UNF booted. Addison Fugitt reached in an infield single, and Kopach followed with a triple to blow the game open. After going 0-for-5 in the first game of the series, Kopach was 4-for-5 today and was a home run shy of the cycle.

"He gets things going," Henderson said of Kopach. "When he gets on base, we feed off him. He stole a couple bases. If he gets on base at the top of the lineup, we're going to score some runs."

North Florida scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth after a pair of walks scored, but Ryan Netemeyer came in and shut down the game before the tying run even reached the plate.

SIU and UNF will play the rubber match on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT. Mason Hiser will start for Southern Illinois.