Friday, April 19
Carbondale, Ill.
6:30 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
17-17, 1-6
4
vs
7
Illinois State
23-15, 6-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Illinois State
0
0
0
1
2
1
3
0
0
7
12
0
Southern Illinois
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
1
0
4
6
3
Illinois State upends SIU in series opener, 7-4
04/19/2019 | 10:02:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Illinois State rode a strong start from Brent Headrick to earn a 7-4 series-opening win over Southern Illinois on Friday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. After SIU tied the game with a three-run fifth inning, the Redbirds scored once in the sixth and three times in the seventh to send Southern to its fifth-straight loss.Â
"We played better; we just didn't play well enough," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We weren't good enough on offense. We have to figure it out and find a way. I thought Mason (Hiser) gave us a chance. It's the first time he's thrown on a Friday, and he's matched up against a really good guy. He left in a 4-3 ballgame and gave us a chance."
Illinois State (23-15, 6-1 MVC) and Southern Illinois (17-17, 1-6 MVC) were locked into an early pitching duel. SIU starter Mason Hiser got out of trouble in the second and third innings to keep the Redbirds off the board, and Headrick was perfect through four innings.Â
Illinois State broke through with a solo homer in the fourth inning and got a two-run double in the top of the fifth to take a 3-0 lead. The Salukis tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. After Headrick retired the first 12 Salukis he faced, J.T. Weber broke it up with a leadoff single in the fifth. He scored on a wild pitch to bring SIU within 3-1. With two outs, Will LaRue hit a lost-in-the-lights triple that scored two runs to knot the score at 3-3. Headrick's only two hits allowed in seven innings were those two in the fifth.Â
"He's good," Henderson said. "Everyone in this league on Friday is good. You have to find a way to figure those guys out."
Catcher Nick Zouras broke the tie with a solo homer to straightaway center field in the sixth inning, which handed Hiser the loss in his first Friday night start. Hiser was strong on a night where the winds were blowing out at nearly 20 mph, getting through six innings and striking out five.Â
The deciding three runs came in the sixth inning against SIU freshman Sam Grace. The middle of the Redbird order did the damage with four singles and two walks to take a 7-3 lead.Â
Southern's offense tried to battle back when Headrick was lifted after seven innings and 105 pitches. The Salukis strung together three hits in the seventh inning to get a run back, but an interference call at second base effectively ended the threat -- instead of first and third with one out and the middle of the order due, SIU had a runner at second with two outs. Alex Lyon drew a walk to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs, but SIU didn't score.Â
Corey Mitson pitched well to set up that opportunity. The freshman didn't allow a run in 2.2 innings. Illinois State closer Jacob Gilmore worked around an infield single to earn his eighth save of the season in the ninth inning.Â
The teams will play the second game of the three-game series at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Itchy Jones Stadium. The first 100 fans will receive a free pair of sunglasses.Â
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Headrick, Brent (4-3)
L: Hiser, Mason (3-2)
S: Gilmore, Jacob (8)
Batting:
2B: Parola, Derek 1 ; Aeilts, Joe 1
HR: Zouras, Nick 1 ; Butler, Jack 1
RBI: Aeilts, Joe 2 ; Butler, Joe 2 ; Peterson, Gunner 1 ; Zouras, Nick 1 ; Butler, Jack 1
SH: Aeilts, Joe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rave, John 1 ; Parola, Derek 2 ; Libman, Jordan 1 ; Butler, Joe 1 ; Zouras, Nick 1 ; Butler, Jack 1
SB: Parola, Derek 1 ; Libman, Jordan 1
HBP: Zouras, Nick 1 ; Butler, Jack 1
Batting:
3B: LaRue, Will 1
RBI: Vasic, Nikola 1 ; Butkiewicz, Colin 1 ; LaRue, Will 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Weber, J.T. 1 ; Epps, Grey 1 ; Butkiewicz, Colin 1 ; Fugitt, Addison 1
SB: Weber, J.T. 1 ; Epps, Grey 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
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