Friday, April 20
Cookeville, Tenn.
6 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
20-18
0
at
4
Tennessee Tech
32-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Southern Illinois
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
3
Tennessee Tech
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
1
X
4
9
0
No. 21 Tennessee Tech downs SIU, 4-0
04/20/2018 | 11:05:00 | Baseball
Photo Gallery
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Southern Illinois baseball team held down one of the best offenses in the nation, but No. 21 Tennessee Tech pitched a shutout to beat the Salukis 4-0 on Friday night at Bush Stadium. The Golden Eagles ran their nation-leading winning streak to 23 games, an OVC record.
TTU (32-5) came into the game averaging nearly 12 runs per game, and the Golden Eagles lead the country in almost every offensive category. SIU pitchers Michael Baird and Noah Farmer held them to their lowest run total during their 23-game winning streak, but Southern's offense struck out 14 times and was shut out for the first time in 35 games.
"We certainly didn't give them our best effort," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We didn't play very well positionally. We gave them one earned run, basically. We kicked it around too much on defense and didn't grind hard enough on offense. I'm sure we'll come back and get after it tomorrow."
Baird struck out six over five innings. He pitched out of trouble several times. Notably, in the second inning, Tennessee Tech had runners on first and second with one out. Baird got back-to-back sure-fire double play balls, and SIU (20-18) committed errors on both of them and failed to record an out. Despite that, Baird limited the damage in the inning to one unearned run.
"With the mistakes we made on defense, it could have gotten out of hand early," Henderson said. "They both (Baird and Farmer) did a great job of minimizing innings and keeping us in the ballgame."
Farmer, a freshman, flashed his potential against the high-powered TTU offense. He relieved Baird and finished the game. After setting down the first five he faced, an error and two infield singles led to a run. Tech added a run in the eighth on a two-out single through the right side.
"It was certainly a big night for him, to come in and do what he did," Henderson said of Farmer. "Even on the one run (in the eighth inning), he did a great job. There were two out, and the guy rolled over a ground ball; it just got through the infield. He executed pitches. They're a good offense. The numbers don't lie, but we executed pitches."
Southern's offense had a hit in three of the first four innings, but Alex Lyon's bloop single with two outs in the ninth inning was the only SIU hit the rest of the game. TTU starter Travis Moths tied his career high by going seven innings, and Ethan Roberts closed it out by striking out five over the last two innings.
Last year, the Golden Eagles made at least three errors in all three games against SIU. Tonight, they made none. SIU struck out 14 times and only put the ball in play 16 times.
"Tip your hat to those guys," Henderson said. "They're really good arms, as good of arms as we've seen all year. They can really pitch, but we have to give a better effort if we're going to beat this club."
The Salukis will try to even the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. Left-hander Jamison Steege will start on the mound for Southern Illinois.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Southern Illinois baseball team held down one of the best offenses in the nation, but No. 21 Tennessee Tech pitched a shutout to beat the Salukis 4-0 on Friday night at Bush Stadium. The Golden Eagles ran their nation-leading winning streak to 23 games, an OVC record.
TTU (32-5) came into the game averaging nearly 12 runs per game, and the Golden Eagles lead the country in almost every offensive category. SIU pitchers Michael Baird and Noah Farmer held them to their lowest run total during their 23-game winning streak, but Southern's offense struck out 14 times and was shut out for the first time in 35 games.
"We certainly didn't give them our best effort," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We didn't play very well positionally. We gave them one earned run, basically. We kicked it around too much on defense and didn't grind hard enough on offense. I'm sure we'll come back and get after it tomorrow."
Baird struck out six over five innings. He pitched out of trouble several times. Notably, in the second inning, Tennessee Tech had runners on first and second with one out. Baird got back-to-back sure-fire double play balls, and SIU (20-18) committed errors on both of them and failed to record an out. Despite that, Baird limited the damage in the inning to one unearned run.
"With the mistakes we made on defense, it could have gotten out of hand early," Henderson said. "They both (Baird and Farmer) did a great job of minimizing innings and keeping us in the ballgame."
Farmer, a freshman, flashed his potential against the high-powered TTU offense. He relieved Baird and finished the game. After setting down the first five he faced, an error and two infield singles led to a run. Tech added a run in the eighth on a two-out single through the right side.
"It was certainly a big night for him, to come in and do what he did," Henderson said of Farmer. "Even on the one run (in the eighth inning), he did a great job. There were two out, and the guy rolled over a ground ball; it just got through the infield. He executed pitches. They're a good offense. The numbers don't lie, but we executed pitches."
Southern's offense had a hit in three of the first four innings, but Alex Lyon's bloop single with two outs in the ninth inning was the only SIU hit the rest of the game. TTU starter Travis Moths tied his career high by going seven innings, and Ethan Roberts closed it out by striking out five over the last two innings.
Last year, the Golden Eagles made at least three errors in all three games against SIU. Tonight, they made none. SIU struck out 14 times and only put the ball in play 16 times.
"Tip your hat to those guys," Henderson said. "They're really good arms, as good of arms as we've seen all year. They can really pitch, but we have to give a better effort if we're going to beat this club."
The Salukis will try to even the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. Left-hander Jamison Steege will start on the mound for Southern Illinois.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MOTHS, Travis (8-1)
L: Baird, Michael (3-3)
S: ROBERTS, Ethan (9)
Base Running:
CS: Vasic, Nikola 1
Batting:
2B: OSBORNE, Nick 1
RBI: JUNIOR, Alex 1 ; HAM, John 1 ; KALEIWAHEA, Brennon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: PUTZIG, Trevor 1 ; CHAMBERS, Chase 1 ; HAM, John 1 ; OSBORNE, Nick 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
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