Southern Illinois University
1-0
Nicholls
0-1
Baseball opens 2019 season with 6-5 win over Nicholls State
02/15/2019 | 5:58:00 | Baseball
THIBODAUX, La. — The Southern Illinois baseball team opened the 2019 campaign with a 6-5 victory over Nicholls State at Ray E. Didier Field on Friday afternoon. The game featured five lead changes and neither team led for more than two innings. Trey McDaniel forced a pop-up to third base to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and retired the side in order in the ninth to clinch the win and earn the save.
"We didn't quit. We just kept battling and grinding," head coach Ken Henderson said. "We certainly can play a lot better and we will, but for an opening day, I am unbelievable proud of how we played."
Brad Harrison earned the opening day start for SIU and struggled in the first inning with two walks allowed and a bunt single that gave the Colonels a 1-0 advantage. But he rebounded from the shaky start to allow only two earned runs on two hits and four walks in five innings pitched. His second hit given up was a two-run homer by Nicholls catcher Chris Sandberg. The lengthy lefty also struck out three batters to pace the pitching staff.
Noah Farmer (1-0) came in relief for Harrison and earned the decision for the Salukis. He began in the top of the sixth and went the next 2.2 innings. The promising sophomore gave up five hits and two walks, which resulted in runs for the Colonels in both the sixth and seventh to tie the game, 5-5. In the eighth, he got two outs before passing the ball off to McDaniel, who earned the four-out save — the third save of his SIU career.
"I thought our pitching was pretty good all day," Henderson said. "Harrison was outstanding. He only gave up two hits in five innings and one of those just happened to be a hit-and-run home run. Overall, I thought all of those guys did what they needed to do on opening day to give us a win."
In the third, newcomers Ian Walters and Philip Archer got the Salukis in the scoring column. Walters proved why he began the season at the three-hole, as he lined a single through the left side to score Vasic from second. Later in the inning, Archer brought Walters home on a bloop single to right center field.
In the fifth, SIU trailed 3-2 after the Nicholls two-run homer, but the offense utilized their aggressive baserunning to regain the lead.
Nikola Vasic led off the inning by hitting an infield single to the shortstop and stealing second. Will LaRue then walked and the duo executed a double steal to give SIU runners on second and third with no outs. Both Vasic and LaRue went on to score on sacrifice flies from Walters and Alex Lyon.
"Another reason we won was due to our aggressiveness on the bases," Henderson said. "I think that accounted for three or fours runs. The double steal got us two runs and the speed just gave us a huge boost offensively."
The next inning, Southern grew their lead to 5-3 as Addison Fugitt drilled a two-out double to deep left center to score Austin Ulick from first.
After the Nicholls squad tied the game 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Southern quickly answered back.
J.T. Weber struck a single to right field with one out in the top of eighth. With Grey Epps at the plate, Weber and him perfectly executed a hit-and-run, which gave SIU runners on first and third. Epps then stole second —SIU's fourth stolen bag of the game — and the throw to second base in attempt to catch him stealing was muffed by the second baseman, which gave Weber an easy trot home from third.
Nicholls threatened the 6-5 Saluki lead with the bases juiced in the bottom of the eighth, but McDaniel and Southern defense held on to keep the Colonel offense scoreless for the remainder of the game.
The SIU offense displayed a balanced hitting attack, with seven of the nine batters recording hits. The lone Saluki to collect two hits was Epps. Walters had a team-high two RBi as well.
On defense, the Salukis only committed one error, which was in the first on a throw to second from Epps. One of the biggest highlights for the defense was the 4-6-3 double play that finished the seventh-inning run for the Colonels.
The Salukis and Colonels will matchup for game two of the three-game series tomorrow on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Dylan Givens will make the start on the mound for SIU.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Farmer, Noah (1-0)
L: White, Parker (0-1)
S: McDaniel, Trey (1)
Batting:
2B: Fugitt, Addison 1
RBI: Walters, Ian 2 ; Lyon, Alex 1 ; Archer, Philip 1 ; Fugitt, Addison 1
SF: Walters, Ian 1 ; Lyon, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vasic, Nikola 2 ; LaRue, Will 1 ; Walters, Ian 1 ; Weber, J.T. 1 ; Ulick, Austin 1
SB: Vasic, Nikola 2 ; LaRue, Will 1 ; Epps, Grey 1
HBP: LaRue, Will 1
PO: Epps, Grey 1
Batting:
2B: Valdez, Ethan 1
HR: Sandberg, Chris 1
RBI: Simon, Dane 1 ; Sandberg, Chris 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Valdez, Ethan 1 ; Belle, Dillon 1 ; Bell, Brady 2 ; Sandberg, Chris 1
SB: Valdez, Ethan 1
CS: France, Austin 1 ; Simon, Dane 1
HBP: Simon, Dane 1
