Bullpen leads SIU to 5-3 win over Eastern Illinois

Tuesday, April 10

Carbondale, Ill.

5 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

18-14

Eastern Illinois

10-20

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

04/10/2018 | 10:31:00 | Baseball

Box Score

By: By John Lock | SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois used 3.2 innings of scoreless pitching from its bullpen to beat Eastern Illinois 5-3 on Tuesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. The Salukis trailed 2-1 after 3.5 innings but scored four runs over the next three innings to grab a lead its bullpen wouldn't relinquish.

"I thought it was a really good baseball game on both sides," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "Both teams played well. It was a clean game. Dylan (Givens) did a good job; he went further than he's gone all year. Our bullpen did a great job, going 3.2 scoreless innings. Both Gutermuth and Montgomery came into jams in the middle innings, and both got out of it. It was an efficient and well-played baseball game."

Dylan Givens started the game by striking out the side on 10 pitches. The Panthers scored first with a solo homer in the top of the second inning, but SIU answered the run in the bottom half. EIU (10-20) took another lead with a run in the fourth; but again, SIU answered, this time with a two-out, two-run single by Mitch Fairfield to take a 3-2 lead.

"I think we were better offensively than the numbers show, especially early," Henderson said. "We hit some balls really hard. We hit some stuff right at them, but our ABs were really good. For whatever reason, we couldn't put three or four hits together. With two outs, we found a way to grind out a couple ABs and score some runs."

SIU (18-14) never trailed after Fairfield's two-run single. First baseman Logan Blackfan set up the go-ahead single by leading a double-steal that got the runs into scoring position.

"That was one of the huge plays of the game," Henderson said of Blackfan's steal. "We were aggressive on the bases with a guy who most people don't think is going to run, but he's really good at stealing third base."

Givens set a career best by pitching into the sixth inning. EIU finally got to him with three singles to get within 5-3, but Alex Gutermuth came into a two-on, one-out jam and preserved the two-run lead.

"We went into it thinking we would feel good if we got five innings out of him," Henderson said of Givens. "We pushed him into the sixth, and he got a little tired, but he did a good job for us. He was really sharp early on."

The Panthers started the seventh with a single and a walk to put the tying run on base, but Allen Montgomery entered into that jam and got three-straight outs to preserve the lead. Trey McDaniel pitched a scoreless eighth, and Ryan Netemeyer secured his fifth save of the season with a scoreless ninth.

SIU won despite the first three batters in the lineup going a combined 0-for-10. The rest of the order picked up the slack, going 9-for-21.

"Early on (in the season), those guys (the bottom of the order) weren't helping us," Henderson said. "Kopach, Vasic, Blackfan, Lyon and those guys were doing it all. We were saying, 'If we can get (the bottom half) going, we're going to be really good.' Now, we have to get the front half going again, and they will. (Alex) Lyon was back in the lineup, and he had a pretty good day. That moves (Drew) Curtis down to the six-spot, and he's been good."

In the eighth spot in the order, Grey Epps went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Epps started his Division I career 4-for-45 (.089), but he's 14-for-42 (.333) ever since, with hits in nine of 12 games and three multi-hit games, including tonight.

"Grey Epps has been doing a really good job," Henderson said. "He's been taking a lot of good swings over the last three weeks. We thought all along he would be a good hitter; he just got off to a slow start."

SIU improved to 8-2 in its last 10 games and 15-6 in its last 21. Entering the final six weeks of the season, SIU will play 17 of its next 23 games against teams currently in the top-100 of the RPI. That stretch starts with a three-game series at nationally ranked Dallas Baptist this weekend. The Patriots, ranked No. 25 in the Baseball American top-25, are the preseason MVC favorites and beat No. 4 Texas Tech tonight heading into the weekend.

First pitch in Dallas on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.