Saturday, April 27
Terre Haute, Ind.
11 a.m. CT
Southern Illinois University
17-21, 1-10
2
at
7
Indiana State
31-9, 8-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Southern Illinois
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
3
2
Indiana State
2
1
0
2
0
2
0
0
X
7
15
0
Indiana State clinches series, 7-2
04/27/2019 | 3:08:00 | Baseball
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State pitching limited Southern Illinois to three hits for the second-straight game en route to a 7-2 series-clinching win over the Salukis at Bob Warn Field.Â
"It's the same story. We had three hits. You're not going to win many games when you can't score," SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. "It's frustrating because we know we have guys that are capable, but we made too many mistakes at the plate."Â
Indiana State (31-9, 8-3 MVC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning, but Southern Illinois (17-21, 1-10 MVC) got a run back in the second inning. Alex Lyon stole third with one out and J.T. Weber grounded out to drive him home. The Sycamores took the run back in the bottom half with a double followed by a single, and the Salukis didn't score again until Nikola Vasic's solo homer in the ninth inning.Â
Southern's pitching worked around trouble for most of the night against the high-powered Sycamores. Indiana State piled up 15 hits, but stranded 12 runners throughout the game. Corey Mitson and Noah Farmer pitched scoreless frames down the stretch.Â
Lyon had two of SIU's three hits in the game and improved his batting average in MVC games to .345. Vasic also had a good day at the plate, drawing SIU's only two walks and hitting a solo homer in the ninth inning. The rest of Southern's lineup went 0-for-24 with nine strikeouts, and SIU's losing streak extended to nine games. Brad Harrison, who had focused on pitching this year after being a two-way player each of the last two years, took his first at-bat of the season with a pinch hit appearance in the ninth.Â
"We have to keep grinding and try to get better," Henderson said. "I've said this so many times: It's so mental. If we get a couple guys going, it can catch on. That's why we hit Brad Harrison in the ninth. What do we have to lose? Try something different and get somebody going."
Indiana State starter Collin Liberatore pitched eight innings, striking out 10 and walking just two before giving way to Jake Ridgway for the ninth. Indiana State's offense had five hitters with multi-hit games. The Sycamores' 8-9 hitters, Chris Ayers and CJ Huntley, combined to go 6-for-7.Â
Indiana State remains squarely in the at-large conversation for the NCAA Tournament with its national RPI at No. 36, one of four Missouri Valley Conference teams in the top-42 of the RPI.Â
The teams will play the final game of the series at noon CT on Sunday.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Liberatore,Collin (8-0)
L: Givens, Dylan (3-6)
Batting:
HR: Vasic, Nikola 1
RBI: Vasic, Nikola 1 ; Weber, J.T. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vasic, Nikola 1 ; Lyon, Alex 1
SB: Vasic, Nikola 1 ; LaRue, Will 1 ; Lyon, Alex 2
CS: Vasic, Nikola 1
Batting:
2B: Watkins,Jarrod 1 ; Harris,Romero 1 ; Ayers,Chris 1
RBI: Watkins,Jarrod 1 ; Harris,Romero 1 ; Wright,Max 1 ; Huntley,CJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Watkins,Jarrod 2 ; Harris,Romero 1 ; Ayers,Chris 2 ; Huntley,CJ 2
SB: Tofteland,Dane 1 ; Huntley,CJ 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
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