Friday, February 14
Jackson, Miss.
6 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
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Jackson State
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9
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E
Southern Illinois
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1
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1
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6
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Jackson State
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8
2
Salukis shutout Jackson State in season opener
02/14/2020 | 11:00:00 | Baseball
JACKSON, Miss. — Standout performances from a pair of senior pitchers, along with J.T. Weber's defense, carried Saluki Baseball to a 2-0 season-opening victory over Jackson State at Braddy Field on Friday night. The win was head coach Lance Rhodes' first at SIU.
"We came out a little tighter than I expected, but a lot of it was first-game jitters," Rhodes said. "Our guys made the right pitches at the right time and J.T. Weber was the star of the game out in left field. I don't think I've ever seen a guy dominate the game in left field like J.T. did tonight. It was phenomenal for our guys."
Click here to watch Rhodes' postgame comments.
Mason Hiser and Trey McDaniel combined for SIU's (1-0) first shutout since the 2018 season.
Hiser (1-0) earned the Opening Day start and pitched 6.0 innings of scoreless baseball. The senior hit his first batter faced, but pounded the strike zone for the remainder of the game, as he allowed no walks. To add, he recorded three strikeouts.
McDaniel came in relief for Hiser in the seventh inning and went the rest of the way to earn his first save of the 2020 season. In 3.0 innings of work, he allowed no runs on just one hit while walking one and striking out three.
"Hiser gave everything we could ask for in six solid innings," Rhodes said. "We wanted to go right to the guy we think has earned the stopper role, which is Trey McDaniel. We didn't want to give them an opportunity to score in the late innings, so we went right to Trey. We've worked him to where he can pitch three innings. Him and Hiser did exactly what we needed them to do."
Weber assisted the pitching staff with a trio of highlight-reel plays in left field. The junior first made a diving grab in the opening inning with a runner on third. JSU (0-1) threatened with runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but Weber manufactured an inning-ending double play, as he dove to catch the liner and then threw out a runner tagging from third to home. Weber capped his impressive night by throwing out a runner attempting to stretch a single into a double in the ninth.
"A lot of it came down to reacting and being ready to go when my time was called," Weber said. "We stayed relaxed throughout the game and it showed. It's a big reason why we got the win."
Click here to watch Weber's inning-ending double play.
Tiger starting pitcher Anthony Becerra scattered three hits and one run over 8.0 innings, but two extra-base hits in the top of the third was all SIU needed for the win. Brad Hudson led off with a triple to right field. Ian Walters drilled an RBI double down the right line to score Hudson and give the Salukis a 1-0 lead.
Southern added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, as Nick Neville led off with a single and came around to score on a sac fly by Hudson.
At the plate, SIU was led by Walters, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI and stolen base. Five of the nine Saluki batters recorded at least one hit.
On defense, the Salukis committed one error, which came in the first inning on a throw from third base. In addition to Weber's special play in the outfield, Neville and Hiser each made key diving catches.
The teams continue the series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.
"We came out a little tighter than I expected, but a lot of it was first-game jitters," Rhodes said. "Our guys made the right pitches at the right time and J.T. Weber was the star of the game out in left field. I don't think I've ever seen a guy dominate the game in left field like J.T. did tonight. It was phenomenal for our guys."
Click here to watch Rhodes' postgame comments.
Mason Hiser and Trey McDaniel combined for SIU's (1-0) first shutout since the 2018 season.
Hiser (1-0) earned the Opening Day start and pitched 6.0 innings of scoreless baseball. The senior hit his first batter faced, but pounded the strike zone for the remainder of the game, as he allowed no walks. To add, he recorded three strikeouts.
McDaniel came in relief for Hiser in the seventh inning and went the rest of the way to earn his first save of the 2020 season. In 3.0 innings of work, he allowed no runs on just one hit while walking one and striking out three.
"Hiser gave everything we could ask for in six solid innings," Rhodes said. "We wanted to go right to the guy we think has earned the stopper role, which is Trey McDaniel. We didn't want to give them an opportunity to score in the late innings, so we went right to Trey. We've worked him to where he can pitch three innings. Him and Hiser did exactly what we needed them to do."
Weber assisted the pitching staff with a trio of highlight-reel plays in left field. The junior first made a diving grab in the opening inning with a runner on third. JSU (0-1) threatened with runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but Weber manufactured an inning-ending double play, as he dove to catch the liner and then threw out a runner tagging from third to home. Weber capped his impressive night by throwing out a runner attempting to stretch a single into a double in the ninth.
"A lot of it came down to reacting and being ready to go when my time was called," Weber said. "We stayed relaxed throughout the game and it showed. It's a big reason why we got the win."
Click here to watch Weber's inning-ending double play.
Tiger starting pitcher Anthony Becerra scattered three hits and one run over 8.0 innings, but two extra-base hits in the top of the third was all SIU needed for the win. Brad Hudson led off with a triple to right field. Ian Walters drilled an RBI double down the right line to score Hudson and give the Salukis a 1-0 lead.
Southern added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, as Nick Neville led off with a single and came around to score on a sac fly by Hudson.
At the plate, SIU was led by Walters, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI and stolen base. Five of the nine Saluki batters recorded at least one hit.
On defense, the Salukis committed one error, which came in the first inning on a throw from third base. In addition to Weber's special play in the outfield, Neville and Hiser each made key diving catches.
The teams continue the series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hiser, Mason (1-0)
L: A. Becerra (0-1)
S: McDaniel, Trey (1)
Batting:
RBI: Walters, Ian 1 ; Hudson, Brad 1
SF: Hudson, Brad 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Neville, Nick 1 ; Hudson, Brad 1
SB: Walters, Ian 1
HBP: Walters, Ian 1 ; Fugitt, Addison 1
Batting:
2B: D. Rhodes 1
SH: C. Dillard 1 ; W. Reyes 1
Base Running:
SB: C. Dillard 1
HBP: C. Newsome 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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OF
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RHP
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/ Baseball
OF
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