Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Mason Hiser has career day vs. Austin Peay
03/12/2019 | 6:19:00 | Baseball
Junior right-hander Mason Hiser had a career day on the mound in a 3-2 victory against Austin Peay Tuesday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium.Â
Hiser, a Barton Community College transfer, missed the majority of his debut year with the Salukis due to an elbow injury. Prior to his injury, he struggled with a 1-2 record and ERA of 6.75 in five starts.Â
This season, Hiser had shown visible improvements on the bump and it is showing in his play. Â
"Compared to last season, I have definitely focused on throwing strikes," Hiser said. "Last year, all I really had was my fastball, but now I have my slider and changeup that I can throw whenever and on any count I want. Having those pitches along with my fastball has helped a lot."Â
Hiser made his third start of the season today and pitched a career-high eight innings on just 84 pitches (63 strikes, 21 balls). He scattered a mere two runs on four hits, while striking out seven batters, which was another best since his arrival to SIU.Â
"I just felt like my plan going into the game was to establish strike one," Hiser said. "Once I finally figured that out and that the opposing batters couldn't handle the inside fastball, there was no looking back."
After giving up two runs on three hits in the third inning, Hiser pitched five-straight innings — fourth inning through eighth inning — of no-hit and scoreless baseball. One only batter reached base in the five-inning span, which was in result of an error.Â
"After the third, I finally settled in and buckled down," Hiser said. "I made a few mistakes early on by leaving balls up and getting behind hitters, so once I got that under control, there was nothing they could really do against me."
Hiser improved to 2-0 on the season with the win. He has gone five-plus innings, while holding opponents to two runs in two of his three starts.Â
Â
