Brad Harrison throws two-hit shutout at Belmont

Tuesday, February 27

Nashville, Tenn.

4 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

3-5

Belmont

3-5

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

02/27/2018 | 7:29:00 | Baseball

Box Score

By: By John Lock | SIUSalukis.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - SIU starting pitcher Brad Harrison threw a complete-game two-hit shutout to lead Saluki Baseball to a 3-0 win at Belmont on Tuesday afternoon at ES Rose Park. Harrison retired 17 consecutive Belmont hitters to end the game and finished with 11 strikeouts.

"I gained a lot of confidence in the bullpen before the game," Harrison said. "No matter what pitch I wanted to throw, I was putting it where I wanted it. I was able to carry that into the game. Once you're rolling as a pitcher, it takes a lot to get you out of your groove. Anything I threw in any count, they either weren't ready for it or just missed it. I was able to mix in and out, fastballs and breaking balls, and it kept guys guessing. The biggest thing today was being efficient and attacking the zone."

SIU (3-5) gave Harrison a 1-0 lead before he threw his first pitch, and the Salukis did it without a base hit. Connor Kopach drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Nikola Vasic pushed him to third with a groundout to the second baseman. Alex Lyon hit a laser shot that Belmont's center fielder made a diving catch on, and Kopach tagged and scored.

That run was enough for Harrison. He allowed only two runners into scoring position and none made it to third base against him. Belmont (3-5) hit a two-out double in the third inning for its first base runner of the game. In the fourth, a leadoff single made it to second base and Belmont drew its only walk of the game, but Harrison recorded a strikeout and a pop out to get out unharmed. Those last two outs started Harrison's string of 17-straight batters retired to end the game.

"That's about as good as it gets," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said of Harrison's outing. "He only allowed three base runners and two hits. He only went to a three-ball count one time in the entire baseball game. He was in complete control for nine innings. He got better and better as the game went on, and he did it against a really good offensive club."

The Salukis added a pair of insurance runs in the fourth inning. Logan Blackfan reached on error to lead off the frame, and Kenton Crawford followed with a double. Hunter Anderson, who had only one plate appearance this season before his start at DH today, hit a two-strike groundout to score Blackfan, and Jared Kengott scored Crawford on an RBI groundout seven pitches later.

"Kudos to Hunter Anderson," Henderson said. "He finally gets an opportunity and has a base hit in his first at-bat. He had the biggest AB of the game when we had second and third and nobody out. He hit a ground ball to the second baseman to score one run and get the other one over. We got that other run in, too. That's a great night by him."

Southern Illinois played error-free for the first time in six games.

"That was as complete of a game as you can play," Henderson said. "We were outstanding on defense. Grey Epps made a couple big-time plays at third base, and Mitch Fairfield did a great job behind the plate. He kept a couple balls in front of him when Brad got a couple strikeouts on nasty breaking balls. I'm proud of our guys in a tough place to play against a good team on the road."

The game was a stark contrast to the 2017 game at Belmont, which the Bruins won 18-17 in four hours and six minutes. That game featured 28 combined hits and seven errors. This year, SIU settled for five hits despite four more line outs, and Harrison did the rest, needing only 92 pitches in the complete game even while striking out 11. The game took only two hours and eight minutes.

"We were pretty good on offense tonight," Henderson said. "We had some tough-luck outs. We hit four or five line drives right at the second baseman. We had good at-bats in those situations. We want to stay inside balls and hit them where they're pitched. I thought we did that."

The game ended the season-opening eight-game road stretch. SIU played 13 of its next 17 games at Itchy Jones Stadium, starting with a three-game series against Louisiana Monroe this weekend. Friday and Saturday's game start at 2 p.m., and Sunday's series finale starts at 1 p.m. Admission will be free to everyone on Friday.