Friday, May 4
Carbondale, Ill.
6:30 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
25-21, 8-5
3
vs
2
Indiana State
22-20, 4-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Indiana State
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
4
3
Southern Illinois
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
X
3
5
2
Photo by: Kevin Langley
Southern takes opener from Indiana State, 3-2
05/04/2018 | 11:39:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois baseball team got outstanding pitching and timely hitting to beat Indiana State 3-2 on Friday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. SIU won its fourth-straight MVC game to improve to 8-5 in the league.
SIU starting pitcher Michael Baird was outstanding again on the mound. After throwing a complete-game shutout last week, Baird allowed just three hits in seven innings. The Sycamores (22-20, 4-9 MVC) scratched out two runs against Baird — one on an error and another on an infield single. Trey McDaniel pitched a perfect eighth inning against the heart of Indiana State's order, and Ryan Netemeyer closed the door in the ninth for his ninth save of the season.
"We had to grind it out. It starts on the mound," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "(Baird) did a great job of fighting through adversity. He threw strikes and gave us a chance. Our bullpen was really good. That's a perfect scenario for us. We got seven from out starter, then McDaniel in the eighth and Netemeyer in the ninth. If you ask how we want the game to go, other than a complete game, that certainly set up well for us."
SIU (25-21, 8-5 MVC) did all of its damage in the third inning. Kenton Crawford starting the big inning by drawing an eight-pitch walk. That started a slew of good at-bats that forced Indiana State starter Tristan Weaver to throw 35 pitches in the inning. Grey Epps drove home Crawford with an RBI single to tie the game, 1-1. With two outs, Logan Blackfan was hit by a pitch and Alex Lyon drew a walk. J.T. Weber came through with a two-out, two-run single to drive home what turned out to be the decisive runs.
SIU finished with only five hits but was the victim of bad luck in the seventh inning. With two on and no outs, Connor Kopach and Logan Blackfan hit back-to-back rockets that ended the inning. Kopach's was a line drive that turned into a lineout double play. Blackfan flew out to the warning track in dead center.
"The ball wasn't carrying," Henderson said. "Logan Blackfan hit two balls opposite field as well as he can hit it. We barreled up more balls than the box score indicated, and so did they. With the damp air and no breeze at all, the ball wasn't carrying. Great AB by JT Weber to pick up those two runs."
The start of the game was delayed 10 minutes by a lightning strike, and the game was delayed again in the sixth inning by heavy rain. In addition, designated hitter Hunter Anderson was a late scratch after being hit by a ball in batting practice, and Epps injured his shoulder diving for a ball in foul territory just before the second rain delay.
"It was a crazy night," Henderson said. "We had the rain delays. We had to scratch Hunter Anderson from the lineup because he got hit by a ball. Grey Epps hurt his shoulder on a phenomenal effort. We haven't had an injury all year, and we had two in one night. It was a bizarre night, but we found a way."
An outstanding crowd of 617 filled Itchy Jones Stadium, and they saw the Salukis clinch a winning record at home for a third-straight season. The second game of the series on Saturday will start at 4 p.m. Sunday's series finale starts at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Baird, Michael (5-3)
L: Tristan Weaver (2-4)
S: Netemeyer, Ryan (9)
Batting:
2B: Romero Harris 1
RBI: Clay Dungan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Luke Fegen 1 ; Max Wright 1
SB: Clay Dungan 1
HBP: Clay Dungan 1
Batting:
RBI: Epps, Grey 1 ; Weber, J.T. 2
SH: Hudson, Brad 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Epps, Grey 1 ; Blackfan, Logan 1 ; Crawford, Kenton 1
SB: Kopach, Connor 1
CS: Crawford, Kenton 1
HBP: Blackfan, Logan 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
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