Tuesday, February 25
Carbondale, Ill.
3 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
5-4
2
vs
1
Murray State
4-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Murray State
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
7
0
Southern Illinois
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
X
2
3
1
Photo by: Will Becque
Strong pitching leads SIU to 2-1 win over Murray State
02/25/2020 | 6:25:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Four SIU baseball pitchers combined to toss a gem in a 2-1 win over Murray State on Tuesday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium. Marion native Mitchell Jackson started and was strong through four innings; and Michael Fossali, Matthew Steidl, and Trey McDaniel backed him up with five innings of scoreless relief.Â
Jackson, who was drafted in the 2019 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves, made his first collegiate start in SIU's home opener. He was outstanding allowing only two hits and two walks in four innings. His only trouble came in the fourth inning, when a leadoff HBP came back to bite when Murray State pushed that run home with a two-out RBI single.Â
"There's probably nerves, just being a local guy, but I thought he went out there and established himself and threw four quality innings," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said of Jackson.
After that, Fossali, Steidl and McDaniel kept it rolling. That trio allowed just five hits in five innings, and all of them were singles. They combined to strike out four and walk none. Steidl extended his scoreless inning streak to 11.2 consecutive innings to begin his sophomore year, and McDaniel locked down his second save of the year with a scoreless ninth. Early in the season, those four pitchers (Jackson, Fossali, Steidl and McDaniel) have a combined 0.77 ERA in 35 innings, and all four have ERAs under 2.00.Â
Offensively, SIU (5-4) managed only three hits but drew eight walks and stole five bases to keep the pressure on Murray State (4-5). Nick Neville drove home SIU's first run with a two-out RBI double in the third inning. After Murray tied the game in the fourth, the score stayed deadlocked until the bottom of the eighth inning. Neville drew a leadoff walk but was still at first base with two outs. He stole second, then scored the game winning run when Murray State reliever Carter Poiry threw two wild pitches.Â
"I like the fight to stay in the game, even though it was frustrating hitting balls right at guys at times," Rhodes said. "Every inning, we had guys on base. We had guys in scoring position multiple times, we just couldn't get over the hump and get them in. When we're struggling to find timely hits, at this point, any way we can find a win is a great win. The biggest thing was being able to lean on the pitcher for nine really good innings to limit that offense, which is a pretty good offense, to one run on the day."
Neville continued his outstanding start to his senior season. Through nine games, he's hitting .385/.429/.513 with five doubles, including one today that pushed across SIU's first run.
"He's very experienced and a very mature player," Rhodes said of Neville. "He takes really mature at-bats. He's a guy a lot of people lean on and ask him a lot of questions. He's a true leader because he truly invests in other players. That's the thing that we've really benefited from him: his ability to connect the guys and willingness to help them out."
UP NEXT: SIU travels to Morehead State for a three-game series this weekend. All three games are scheduled to air nationally on ESPN+. First pitch Friday is set for 2 p.m. CT.
NOTES: The game was originally scheduled to be played in Murray, but the teams flipped home games due to field conditions. SIU will now play at Murray State (instead of Carbondale, as originally scheduled) on April 7 ... SIU has won four-straight games over Murray State, dating back to the 2017 season ... SIU stole five bases and now has 23 stolen bases in nine games.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Steidl, Matthew (1-0)
L: POIRY, Carter (0-1)
S: McDaniel, Trey (2)
Batting:
2B: BLOOMER, Bryson 1
RBI: McPHEE, Skylar 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SLUNDER, Jake 1
SB: SLUNDER, Jake 1
HBP: SLUNDER, Jake 1
Batting:
2B: Neville, Nick 1
RBI: Neville, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Walters, Ian 1 ; Neville, Nick 1
SB: Walters, Ian 2 ; Neville, Nick 1 ; Hojnar, Sam 1 ; Epps, Grey 1
CS: Walters, Ian 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
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