Sunday, March 14
Carbondale, Ill.
1 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
14-1, 3-1
3
vs
7
Evansville
7-9, 1-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Evansville
1
0
0
1
0
4
1
0
0
7
13
1
SIU
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
6
4
Baseball's 19-game winning streak snapped by Evansville
03/14/2021 | 8:55:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - SIU's 19-game winning streak was snapped with a 7-3 loss to Evansville on Sunday at Itchy Jones Stadium. SIU's 19-game winning streak had been the longest active winning streak in the nation and the third-longest winning streak in program history.
"I think our guys feel the same way I do. Whether we were 14-0 or if we had lost before, losing still feels bad. I'm ready to get back on the field for another game to get the bitter taste our of our mouths," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said.
Evansville (7-9, 1-3 MVC) picked up its second win over a ranked opponent this season, having also beaten No. 21 Georgia on opening day. The Aces jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a first inning run. SIU (14-1, 3-1 MVC), which had come from behind to win four times already this season, took the lead with a three-run third, powered by a Philip Archer two-out, two-run single.
But the Salukis, ranked No. 25 nationally by Collegiate Baseball, played their first sloppy game of the season. SIU committed a season-high four errors defensively. Three times in the first six innings, SIU failed to get a runner home from third with one out; and the Salukis made two outs on the bases.
"Take the opponent out of it. We just weren't good enough at the game of baseball today," Rhodes said. "We weren't good enough defensively. We weren't good enough on the mound. We weren't good enough on offense. We weren't good enough on the bases. In every category of the game, we made mistakes. When you play that bad, you're just not going to win many games in college baseball."
Evansville took advantage. The Aces got a run back in the fourth and then put up a four-run sixth to take a 6-3 lead. Evansville added a run in the seventh to set the final score at 7-3.
SIU's three runs were a season low. The Salukis had 10+ hits in 13 of its 14 games prior to today, including 12-straight games with double-digit hits; but today, SIU was limited to a season-low six hits.
"Really, for the first time all year, over the last 14-17 innings, we haven't been swinging the bats well," Rhodes said. "When you look at the way we played on defense today, we took our at-bats out to the field. The guys that were struggling offensively made some mistakes defensively that they normally don't make. You can see that the divide between leaving the at-bats in the dugout and playing defense on the field wasn't there. We have to be able to have a bad day offensively and a great day defensively. We just didn't do that today. If we make the defensive plays that we should have made, the game is a lot closer than the 7-3 score says. The biggest learning point today is being able to separate the game and all the different phases, still being able to be good in one even though you're struggling in another."
Noah Farmer relieved SIU starter Braden Babcock in the second inning and got SIU out of a jam. Farmer pitched around a pair of ground-ball singles in the third and nearly did the same in the fourth, but the Salukis committed an error on a potential inning-ending double-play ball and the Aces scored a run. Gage O'Brien relieved Farmer in the sixth, but a pair of SIU errors led to Evansville's four-run inning.
"We weren't as sharp on the mound as we have been in the past, but it doesn't help when we don't make defensive plays," Rhodes said. "In that four-run inning, we made a huge mistake and gave up a couple free bases. They got some runs that maybe they wouldn't have. It's a combination of both: They swung the bats well today, and we didn't execute great pitches."
The series was the first of the Missouri Valley Conference's new four-game series, which included a doubleheader on Saturday. SIU took the first three games to win the series and finish the weekend 3-1 in the league.
UP NEXT: SIU hosts Marshall next weekend at Itchy Jones Stadium for a three-game series. Marshall and SIU share a common opponent. The Thundering Herd took two of three at Mercer this weekend, and it scored 19 runs in today's series-clinching win. SIU swept Mercer earlier this season.
NOTES: SIU's 14-0 start goes down as the best in program history (previous best: 11-0 in 1967) ... SIU's 19-game winning streak, which included the final five games of last season and the first 14 games of this season, is the third-longest winning streak in program history ... J.T. Weber reached base in 14 of his 17 plate appearances in the series ... Ian Walters' 35-game reached base streak was snapped ... Philip Archer singled to extend his reached base streak to 26 games ... Tristan Peters extended his hitting streak to 13 games ... SIU lost for the first time in 375 days (Lost, 4-1, at Austin Peay on March 4, 2020) ... SIU's 13-game home field winning streak was snapped (SIU went 5-0 last season at Itchy Jones Stadium and was 8-0 this season prior to the loss) ... SIU lost a home game for the first time in 666 days (Lost, 12-1, to Dallas Baptist on May 18, 2019) ... Despite the loss, SIU is 44-14 in its last 58 home games.
"I think our guys feel the same way I do. Whether we were 14-0 or if we had lost before, losing still feels bad. I'm ready to get back on the field for another game to get the bitter taste our of our mouths," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said.
Evansville (7-9, 1-3 MVC) picked up its second win over a ranked opponent this season, having also beaten No. 21 Georgia on opening day. The Aces jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a first inning run. SIU (14-1, 3-1 MVC), which had come from behind to win four times already this season, took the lead with a three-run third, powered by a Philip Archer two-out, two-run single.
But the Salukis, ranked No. 25 nationally by Collegiate Baseball, played their first sloppy game of the season. SIU committed a season-high four errors defensively. Three times in the first six innings, SIU failed to get a runner home from third with one out; and the Salukis made two outs on the bases.
"Take the opponent out of it. We just weren't good enough at the game of baseball today," Rhodes said. "We weren't good enough defensively. We weren't good enough on the mound. We weren't good enough on offense. We weren't good enough on the bases. In every category of the game, we made mistakes. When you play that bad, you're just not going to win many games in college baseball."
Evansville took advantage. The Aces got a run back in the fourth and then put up a four-run sixth to take a 6-3 lead. Evansville added a run in the seventh to set the final score at 7-3.
SIU's three runs were a season low. The Salukis had 10+ hits in 13 of its 14 games prior to today, including 12-straight games with double-digit hits; but today, SIU was limited to a season-low six hits.
"Really, for the first time all year, over the last 14-17 innings, we haven't been swinging the bats well," Rhodes said. "When you look at the way we played on defense today, we took our at-bats out to the field. The guys that were struggling offensively made some mistakes defensively that they normally don't make. You can see that the divide between leaving the at-bats in the dugout and playing defense on the field wasn't there. We have to be able to have a bad day offensively and a great day defensively. We just didn't do that today. If we make the defensive plays that we should have made, the game is a lot closer than the 7-3 score says. The biggest learning point today is being able to separate the game and all the different phases, still being able to be good in one even though you're struggling in another."
Noah Farmer relieved SIU starter Braden Babcock in the second inning and got SIU out of a jam. Farmer pitched around a pair of ground-ball singles in the third and nearly did the same in the fourth, but the Salukis committed an error on a potential inning-ending double-play ball and the Aces scored a run. Gage O'Brien relieved Farmer in the sixth, but a pair of SIU errors led to Evansville's four-run inning.
"We weren't as sharp on the mound as we have been in the past, but it doesn't help when we don't make defensive plays," Rhodes said. "In that four-run inning, we made a huge mistake and gave up a couple free bases. They got some runs that maybe they wouldn't have. It's a combination of both: They swung the bats well today, and we didn't execute great pitches."
The series was the first of the Missouri Valley Conference's new four-game series, which included a doubleheader on Saturday. SIU took the first three games to win the series and finish the weekend 3-1 in the league.
UP NEXT: SIU hosts Marshall next weekend at Itchy Jones Stadium for a three-game series. Marshall and SIU share a common opponent. The Thundering Herd took two of three at Mercer this weekend, and it scored 19 runs in today's series-clinching win. SIU swept Mercer earlier this season.
NOTES: SIU's 14-0 start goes down as the best in program history (previous best: 11-0 in 1967) ... SIU's 19-game winning streak, which included the final five games of last season and the first 14 games of this season, is the third-longest winning streak in program history ... J.T. Weber reached base in 14 of his 17 plate appearances in the series ... Ian Walters' 35-game reached base streak was snapped ... Philip Archer singled to extend his reached base streak to 26 games ... Tristan Peters extended his hitting streak to 13 games ... SIU lost for the first time in 375 days (Lost, 4-1, at Austin Peay on March 4, 2020) ... SIU's 13-game home field winning streak was snapped (SIU went 5-0 last season at Itchy Jones Stadium and was 8-0 this season prior to the loss) ... SIU lost a home game for the first time in 666 days (Lost, 12-1, to Dallas Baptist on May 18, 2019) ... Despite the loss, SIU is 44-14 in its last 58 home games.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Roberts, Eric (2-0)
L: Farmer, Noah (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Beilsmith, Troy 1 ; Shallenberger, Mark 1 ; Komonosky, Ben 1
RBI: Beilsmith, Troy 1 ; Scherry, Simon 2 ; Craig, Tanner 1 ; Shallenberger, Mark 1 ; Brinkley, Mason 1
SH: Komonosky, Ben 1
SF: Beilsmith, Troy 1 ; Brinkley, Mason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Beilsmith, Troy 1 ; Scherry, Simon 1 ; Craig, Tanner 1 ; Widder, Brent 3 ; Komonosky, Ben 1
SB: Scherry, Simon 1
HBP: Widder, Brent 1 ; Komonosky, Ben 1
Batting:
2B: Epps, Grey 2
RBI: Archer, Philip 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Weber, J.T. 1 ; Neville, Nick 1 ; Epps, Grey 1
CS: Archer, Philip 1
HBP: Weber, J.T. 2
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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LHP
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RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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INF
/ Baseball
OF
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