Tuesday, March 12
Carbondale, Ill.
3 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
9-5
3
vs
2
Austin Peay
5-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Austin Peay
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
5
1
Southern Illinois
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
X
3
7
1
Salukis come from behind in eighth to stun Austin Peay
03/12/2019 | 5:47:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois baseball team scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to complete a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Austin Peay on Tuesday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium. SIU has won eight of its last 10 games.
SIU starter Mason Hiser was stellar, allowing just two runs on four hits over eight innings. He struck out seven and didn't walk a batter, ending his eight innings in an efficient 84 pitches.Â
"He's throwing well," SIU head coach said of Hiser. "That's what he does--he's a command guy. He fills up the zone. That's his key to success. When you don't walk a batter in eight innings, that's pretty special."
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Post-game interviews » Henderson | Hiser | Hudson
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The Governors (5-9) got their two runs in the third inning. After that, Hiser shut them down--the only base runner that reached against Hiser in his final five innings came on an error.Â
"He had great command of his breaking ball today, too," Henderson said. "He got a lot of swings and misses on that. He was really, really special, and he needed to be. We couldn't get anything going on offense. That happens sometimes, and you need a guy to throw up zeros until we figure it out (offensively), and that's exactly what happened."
The Salukis (9-5) got a run back in the fourth inning. Will LaRue singled and stole second, and Alex Lyon drove him home with an RBI double. The game stayed scoreless until SIU's two eighth-inning runs.Â
APSU starter Tyler Thompson matched Hiser, allowing just that one run and three hits in five innings. He was relieved by Josh Rye, who pitched five perfect outs before Aiden McMahan's two-out single in the seventh. Brad Hudson pinch ran in a 2-1 game, which knocked Rye out of the game. A pair of walks loaded the bases; and while SIU left the bases loaded in the seventh, it turned over the lineup, setting the stage for Southern's eighth-inning rally.
In the eighth, with SIU trailing 2-1, Nikola Vasic drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a bad pickoff throw. Ian Walters tied the game with a clutch two-strike sacrifice fly.Â
"People talk about how many bases we're stealing and how we run, but we put pressure on people," Henderson said. "The threat of a steal had a guy throw the ball away, and that's what led to the tying run. They knew we were going to run at some point, and they picked and picked and picked, and they threw the ball away. Sometimes, it's just putting pressure on people and letting them make mistakes."
With two outs, Alex Lyon beat out an infield single and went first-to-third on a Philip Archer single. Brad Hudson drove home the game-winning run with a two-strike soft liner over a leaping shortstop. Trey McDaniel locked down his fifth save with a great ninth inning, allowing just an infield single to the middle of Peay's order.Â
The low-scoring game was a rarity in the SIU-Austin Peay series--the winning team had scored 10+ runs in 11 of the last 13 meetings--but SIU was able to claw out its first come-from-behind win since the season opener at Nicholls.
"Early on, it wasn't about swings; it was about approaches," Henderson said. "Of our first 19 outs, eight of them were on first pitches. We want to be aggressive, but we have to get better pitches. But we stayed with it and found a way."
With the win, SIU (9-5) improved to 8-2 in its last 10 games. The Salukis face Southeast Missouri at 2 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium; the game was originally scheduled for 3 p.m., but has been moved up to 2 p.m. due to weather concerns.Â
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SIU starter Mason Hiser was stellar, allowing just two runs on four hits over eight innings. He struck out seven and didn't walk a batter, ending his eight innings in an efficient 84 pitches.Â
"He's throwing well," SIU head coach said of Hiser. "That's what he does--he's a command guy. He fills up the zone. That's his key to success. When you don't walk a batter in eight innings, that's pretty special."
---
Post-game interviews » Henderson | Hiser | Hudson
---
The Governors (5-9) got their two runs in the third inning. After that, Hiser shut them down--the only base runner that reached against Hiser in his final five innings came on an error.Â
"He had great command of his breaking ball today, too," Henderson said. "He got a lot of swings and misses on that. He was really, really special, and he needed to be. We couldn't get anything going on offense. That happens sometimes, and you need a guy to throw up zeros until we figure it out (offensively), and that's exactly what happened."
The Salukis (9-5) got a run back in the fourth inning. Will LaRue singled and stole second, and Alex Lyon drove him home with an RBI double. The game stayed scoreless until SIU's two eighth-inning runs.Â
APSU starter Tyler Thompson matched Hiser, allowing just that one run and three hits in five innings. He was relieved by Josh Rye, who pitched five perfect outs before Aiden McMahan's two-out single in the seventh. Brad Hudson pinch ran in a 2-1 game, which knocked Rye out of the game. A pair of walks loaded the bases; and while SIU left the bases loaded in the seventh, it turned over the lineup, setting the stage for Southern's eighth-inning rally.
In the eighth, with SIU trailing 2-1, Nikola Vasic drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a bad pickoff throw. Ian Walters tied the game with a clutch two-strike sacrifice fly.Â
"People talk about how many bases we're stealing and how we run, but we put pressure on people," Henderson said. "The threat of a steal had a guy throw the ball away, and that's what led to the tying run. They knew we were going to run at some point, and they picked and picked and picked, and they threw the ball away. Sometimes, it's just putting pressure on people and letting them make mistakes."
With two outs, Alex Lyon beat out an infield single and went first-to-third on a Philip Archer single. Brad Hudson drove home the game-winning run with a two-strike soft liner over a leaping shortstop. Trey McDaniel locked down his fifth save with a great ninth inning, allowing just an infield single to the middle of Peay's order.Â
The low-scoring game was a rarity in the SIU-Austin Peay series--the winning team had scored 10+ runs in 11 of the last 13 meetings--but SIU was able to claw out its first come-from-behind win since the season opener at Nicholls.
"Early on, it wasn't about swings; it was about approaches," Henderson said. "Of our first 19 outs, eight of them were on first pitches. We want to be aggressive, but we have to get better pitches. But we stayed with it and found a way."
With the win, SIU (9-5) improved to 8-2 in its last 10 games. The Salukis face Southeast Missouri at 2 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium; the game was originally scheduled for 3 p.m., but has been moved up to 2 p.m. due to weather concerns.Â
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hiser, Mason (2-0)
L: NEWBERG, Brett (1-3)
S: McDaniel, Trey (5)
Batting:
2B: PHILLIPS, Parker 1
RBI: AVROS, Gino 1 ; PHILLIPS, Parker 1
Base Running:
RUNS: AVROS, Gino 1 ; KUEBER, Garrett 1
SB: AVROS, Gino 1 ; SPAIN, Garrett 1 ; KUEBER, Garrett 1
Batting:
2B: Lyon, Alex 1
RBI: Walters, Ian 1 ; Lyon, Alex 1 ; Hudson, Brad 1
SF: Walters, Ian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vasic, Nikola 1 ; LaRue, Will 1 ; Lyon, Alex 1
SB: LaRue, Will 1 ; Lyon, Alex 1 ; Hudson, Brad 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
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