Saturday, April 20
Carbondale, Ill.
2 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
17-18, 1-7
6
vs
7
Illinois State
24-15, 7-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Illinois State
0
1
0
2
4
0
0
0
0
7
12
1
Southern Illinois
0
1
0
3
0
0
0
1
1
6
6
1
Comeback comes up short vs. Illinois State
04/20/2019 | 6:58:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois baseball team put the go-ahead run on base in the ninth inning, but Illinois State held on for a 7-6 win to clinch the series. After SIU (17-18, 1-7 MVC) took a 4-3 lead in the fourth, the Redbirds (24-15, 7-1 MVC) scored four runs in the fifth to take a 7-3 lead and withheld a late SIU charge.Â
"It was the best effort we have had in a couple weeks," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "We actually played pretty well. We had good energy and did a lot of good things. At the end of the day, we have to find a way to finish it. The one big inning doomed us. I'm proud of our guys. We didn't quit. We kept battling to get back into it."
Matt DeSomer, a star on the Saluki Football team for the last four years, had his best outing as a baseball player with four perfect innings down the stretch to give the Salukis a chance at the comeback. DeSomer struck out three and did not allow a base runner to a Redbird lineup that had 12 hits in the first five innings. In DeSomer's last six appearances, he has a 0.00 ERA in 9.2 innings, allowing just four hits while striking out nine.Â
"He's been getting better and better each time out," Henderson said of DeSomer. "His outings have been pretty good lately, so we decided to run him out there. He didn't allow anything for four innings and gave our offense a chance. We're going to need that going forward. He was outstanding."
The Salukis dropped their sixth-straight game, while the Redbirds maintained their lead in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. Illinois State also improved its RPI to No. 30 nationally, putting the Redbirds in the conversation for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.Â
The offensive-minded Redbirds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning, and SIU immediately answered with a sac fly in the bottom half to knot the score, 1-1. Illinois State added two more in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead; again, Southern immediately answered in the bottom half. Philip Archer homered, and Alex Lyon followed with a triple. Aiden McMahan drove home Lyon with an RBI single, and Addison Fugitt gave Southern its first lead of the weekend with a two-out RBI double that scored McMahan.Â
But Illinois State decided the game in the top of the fifth inning. Joe Aeilts hit a three-run homer, and Joe Butler went back-to-back with a homer of his own to flip the momentum to Illinois State and give the Redbirds a 7-4 lead.Â
The Salukis were able to get to Illinois State starter Jeff Lindgren in the fourth inning, but he settled in and followed that with three-straight shutout innings. Lindgren struck out nine in 7.0 innings, allowing just four hits and four runs (three earned) before turning the ball over to the bullpen.Â
Much like the first game of the series, SIU was able to get to Illinois State's bullpen but didn't have enough time to complete the comeback. Nikola Vasic manufactured a run in the eighth. After a leadoff single, Vasic stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. J.T. Weber got him home with a sac fly. Then, in the ninth against Redbird closer Jacob Gilmore, Alex Lyon hit a leadoff home run to get SIU within 7-6.Â
"I thought we had a better approach at the plate today," Henderson said. "If we can continue to build off that, we'll get there."
Addison Fugitt drew a two-out walk, and Will LaRue was hit by a pitch, pushing the tying run into scoring position and putting the go-ahead run on base. Butler made a slick running play on a slow chopper, and first baseman Jack Butler dug it out to end the game.Â
The teams wrap the series with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday at Itchy Jones Stadium.Â
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lindgren, Jeff (4-2)
L: Givens, Dylan (3-5)
S: Gilmore, Jacob (9)
Batting:
2B: Zouras, Nick 1 ; Butler, Jack 1
HR: Aeilts, Joe 1 ; Butler, Joe 1
RBI: Aeilts, Joe 3 ; Butler, Joe 1 ; Zouras, Nick 1 ; Butler, Jack 2
SF: Zouras, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Parola, Derek 1 ; Libman, Jordan 1 ; Aeilts, Joe 2 ; Butler, Joe 2 ; Peterson, Gunner 1
Batting:
2B: Fugitt, Addison 1
3B: Lyon, Alex 1
HR: Archer, Philip 1 ; Lyon, Alex 1
RBI: Walters, Ian 1 ; Archer, Philip 1 ; Lyon, Alex 1 ; McMahan, Aiden 1 ; Weber, J.T. 1 ; Fugitt, Addison 1
SH: Lyon, Alex 1
SF: Weber, J.T. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vasic, Nikola 1 ; Archer, Philip 2 ; Lyon, Alex 2 ; McMahan, Aiden 1
SB: Vasic, Nikola 1
HBP: Archer, Philip 1 ; LaRue, Will 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
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RHP
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OF
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OF
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INF
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