Sunday, February 21
Jacksonville, Ala.
10 a.m.
Southern Illinois University
3-0
13
vs
1
Alabama State
0-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
SIU
2
2
0
0
0
3
0
4
2
13
16
2
Alabama State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
4
4
Salukis cruise past Alabama State, 13-1, improve to 3-0
02/21/2021 | 1:24:00 | Baseball
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The SIU baseball team coasted past Alabama State 13-1 on Sunday at Jim Case Stadium on the campus of Jacksonville State University. SIU improved to 3-0 on the season, tied for the program's best start to a season since 1977.Â
Everything was working for the Salukis (3-0) on Sunday. Starter Ben Chapman pitched six shutout innings in his first collegiate start. He struck out six and allowed just three hits. Southern's offense created separation early. Ian Walters led off the game with a double and was immediately driven home by J.T. Weber. Then, Nick Neville drove home Weber to give SIU a 2-0 lead before Chapman had even thrown a pitch.Â
"Right out of the gate, Ben Chapman set a good tone," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "For his first time out, he carried himself really well. The offense did a really good job of putting pressure on (Alabama State) right away. When the offense scores quickly, Ben can settle in, and that's exactly what happened."
SIU's running game helped tack on two more runs in the second inning. A double steal drew a throwing error that scored one run. Walters moved up to third on the error, and Weber hit a sac fly to give SIU a 4-0 lead.Â
The Salukis blew the game open in the sixth inning. Phil Archer led off with a home run. Grey Epps followed with a double and moved to third on Brad Hudson's single. Hudson promptly stole second, and Austin Ulick drove home both runs with a single that gave SIU a 7-0 lead. And it kept rolling from there. J.T. Weber hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning. Nick Blubaugh's first career Division I hit was an RBI single. Neville hit a two-run homer in the ninth to put the capper on his four-hit day. Every spot in the lineup had at least one hit today.
"We were relentless offensively today," Rhodes said. "This was probably the day where we had the hardest contact. We had 16 hits, but we even had several more that we squared up. The wind was in our face, so those three home runs we hit, those balls were crushed through the wind."
The Salukis finished undefeated at the last-minute round robin tournament hosted by Jacksonville State. SIU was supposed to play a three-game series at Tennessee Tech this weekend, but the polar vortex that has gripped the Midwest forced cancellations across the country. Fortunately, Jacksonville State invited both SIU and TTU to join an impromptu four-team round robin at Jim Case Stadium, and the Salukis were able to start the season on opening weekend, despite hot having been able to practice outdoors in two weeks.
Impressively, SIU was able to come out of that weekend 3-0, including wins over Jacksonville State (preseason #2 in the OVC), Tennessee Tech (NCAA SuperRegional in 2018), and Alabama State (preseason SWAC East favorites).Â
"It was a complete weekend," Rhodes said. "We hadn't been outside in two weeks before we came down here. You don't know what to expect. Will there be communication issues, or fly ball issues, when you haven't been outside in two weeks? There was none of that. Our guys played really well for not having been on the field in a long time."
After six scoreless innings, Chapman turned the ball over to the bullpen. Adam Bunnell pitched a scoreless seventh. Kyle Back and Dylan Givens combined for a perfect 1-2-3 eighth, and Gage O'Brien bounced back from walking his first two hitters to nail down the ninth allowing just one run but no hits.
"Everyone threw well," Rhodes said. "We wanted to get as many guys out there as we could. When we head into next week, almost everyone will have that experience, and the first-game nerves will be out of the way."
NOTES:Â SIU has started a season 3-0 for the fourth time since 1977 (the 1978, 1979, and 2017 teams also started 3-0). The Salukis have not started a season 4-0 since 1977 (4-0) and have not started a season 5-0 since 1967 (11-0)Â ... SIU has won eight-straight games, dating back to last year ... Ian Walters has reached base in 24-straight games, dating back to late in the 2019 season ... Phil Archer has reached base in 14-straight games, dating back to last season ... All 12 SIU offensive players who appeared got at least one hit on opening weekend ... Neville went 7-for-14 on the weekend with a homer, three RBIs, three runs scored, and two stolen bases.
Â
Everything was working for the Salukis (3-0) on Sunday. Starter Ben Chapman pitched six shutout innings in his first collegiate start. He struck out six and allowed just three hits. Southern's offense created separation early. Ian Walters led off the game with a double and was immediately driven home by J.T. Weber. Then, Nick Neville drove home Weber to give SIU a 2-0 lead before Chapman had even thrown a pitch.Â
"Right out of the gate, Ben Chapman set a good tone," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "For his first time out, he carried himself really well. The offense did a really good job of putting pressure on (Alabama State) right away. When the offense scores quickly, Ben can settle in, and that's exactly what happened."
SIU's running game helped tack on two more runs in the second inning. A double steal drew a throwing error that scored one run. Walters moved up to third on the error, and Weber hit a sac fly to give SIU a 4-0 lead.Â
The Salukis blew the game open in the sixth inning. Phil Archer led off with a home run. Grey Epps followed with a double and moved to third on Brad Hudson's single. Hudson promptly stole second, and Austin Ulick drove home both runs with a single that gave SIU a 7-0 lead. And it kept rolling from there. J.T. Weber hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning. Nick Blubaugh's first career Division I hit was an RBI single. Neville hit a two-run homer in the ninth to put the capper on his four-hit day. Every spot in the lineup had at least one hit today.
"We were relentless offensively today," Rhodes said. "This was probably the day where we had the hardest contact. We had 16 hits, but we even had several more that we squared up. The wind was in our face, so those three home runs we hit, those balls were crushed through the wind."
The Salukis finished undefeated at the last-minute round robin tournament hosted by Jacksonville State. SIU was supposed to play a three-game series at Tennessee Tech this weekend, but the polar vortex that has gripped the Midwest forced cancellations across the country. Fortunately, Jacksonville State invited both SIU and TTU to join an impromptu four-team round robin at Jim Case Stadium, and the Salukis were able to start the season on opening weekend, despite hot having been able to practice outdoors in two weeks.
Impressively, SIU was able to come out of that weekend 3-0, including wins over Jacksonville State (preseason #2 in the OVC), Tennessee Tech (NCAA SuperRegional in 2018), and Alabama State (preseason SWAC East favorites).Â
"It was a complete weekend," Rhodes said. "We hadn't been outside in two weeks before we came down here. You don't know what to expect. Will there be communication issues, or fly ball issues, when you haven't been outside in two weeks? There was none of that. Our guys played really well for not having been on the field in a long time."
After six scoreless innings, Chapman turned the ball over to the bullpen. Adam Bunnell pitched a scoreless seventh. Kyle Back and Dylan Givens combined for a perfect 1-2-3 eighth, and Gage O'Brien bounced back from walking his first two hitters to nail down the ninth allowing just one run but no hits.
"Everyone threw well," Rhodes said. "We wanted to get as many guys out there as we could. When we head into next week, almost everyone will have that experience, and the first-game nerves will be out of the way."
NOTES:Â SIU has started a season 3-0 for the fourth time since 1977 (the 1978, 1979, and 2017 teams also started 3-0). The Salukis have not started a season 4-0 since 1977 (4-0) and have not started a season 5-0 since 1967 (11-0)Â ... SIU has won eight-straight games, dating back to last year ... Ian Walters has reached base in 24-straight games, dating back to late in the 2019 season ... Phil Archer has reached base in 14-straight games, dating back to last season ... All 12 SIU offensive players who appeared got at least one hit on opening weekend ... Neville went 7-for-14 on the weekend with a homer, three RBIs, three runs scored, and two stolen bases.
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chapman, Ben (1-0)
L: King, Austin (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Walters, Ian 1 ; Epps, Grey 1
HR: Weber, J.T. 1 ; Neville, Nick 1 ; Archer, Philip 1
RBI: Weber, J.T. 5 ; Neville, Nick 3 ; Blubaugh, Nick 1 ; Archer, Philip 1 ; Ulick, Austin 2
SF: Weber, J.T. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Walters, Ian 3 ; Weber, J.T. 2 ; Neville, Nick 2 ; Archer, Philip 1 ; Epps, Grey 1 ; Hudson, Brad 2 ; Ulick, Austin 1 ; Rask, Tony 1
SB: Walters, Ian 1 ; Hudson, Brad 2
CS: Peters, Tristan 1
HBP: Walters, Ian 1
Batting:
3B: DeGuzman, Cristopher 1
RBI: Sloan, Jayden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Francis, Dale 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
2
H
4
RBI
3
AB
5
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
5
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballOF
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