Saturday, March 20
Carbondale, Ill.
3:30 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
16-1
7
vs
2
Marshall
3-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Marshall
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
8
0
SIU
1
0
3
2
0
0
1
0
X
7
8
0
Defense leads #27 SIU to series clinching win over Marshall
03/20/2021 | 6:42:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The No. 27 SIU baseball team clinched the series with a 7-2 win over Marshall on Saturday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium. The Salukis improved to 16-1 on the season and have won each of the first two games of the three-game series against the Thundering Herd.
"It's great to see us play such a sound defensive game," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "Across the board, many different people at many different positions made difficult plays look easy. Yesterday (after the game), we talked about having guys struggling at the plate and taking that out to the field a little bit. We wanted to make sure today that we separated the parts of the game. When you walk across the white line and play defense, the at-bats aren't still in your head. Today, we had some guys the scuffled a little bit offensively, but they made outstanding defensive plays. That's awesome to see. You can win games by knocking in runs, and you can win games by preventing runs. We did a little bit of both today."Â
Nick Neville got SIU's stellar defensive game started with a smooth play deep in the 5-6 hole in the first inning and followed it up with a run-saving diving play and throw in the second inning. Ian Walters made diving play to his left. Grey Epps made gloved a ball up the middle and made a spinning throw that Philip Archer dug out. And the capper came in the eighth inning, when J.T. Weber saved another run, connecting with Austin Ulick to throw out a runner at the plate.
"If we're able to play defense without at-bats in our mind, I truly believe we can be a top-five defensive team in the nation," Rhodes said. "Our defense is that good. We have rangey infielders and outfielders who can track down balls. When we throw strikes, I believe we can play defense with anyone in the country."
Tristan Peters started SIU's scoring with a clutch two-out, two-strike opposite field RBI single in the first inning. Marshall tied the game in the third, but SIU starter Ben Chapman got out of a runner-on-third, one-out jam to prevent Marshall (3-6) from taking a lead. SIU immediately responded with a three-run inning in the bottom of the third. Brad Hudson punctuated the inning with a great baserunning play. With runners on first and third and two outs, Marshall tried picking off Peters at first base, and Hudson broke for home and beat the tag to give SIU a 4-1 lead.Â
Chapman was outstanding for SIU, striking out eight in 6.2 innings and walking none. Chapman improved to 5-0 and has won every game he's started at SIU. After Marshall got a two-out run in the fourth to get within 4-2, Chapman settled into a groove and retired nine out of 10 before being lifted with two outs in the seventh after a single. In the two games against Marshall, SIU pitching has struck out 23 and walked none.Â
"Early in the game, when he was getting hit a little bit, Coach J (pitching coach Tim Jamieson) looked at me and said, 'He's throwing too many strikes,'" Rhodes said. "That's the art of being able to pitch at a really high level: knowing how to work in the zone and also around the zone when you need to. He will learn that part as he matures as a pitcher. I would rather have to be able to tell someone he needs to throw fewer strikes than more strikes. For him, it's getting ahead, and when you get ahead, how to expand that strike zone, as well."
With Chapman cruising, SIU's offense steadily increased the lead. Hudson and Nick Neville drove in a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to push SIU ahead 6-2. Neville and Peters led off the seventh with back-to-back doubles to set the final score at 7-2.Â
"We're still having a good approach. We're not chasing. When I say we're in a funk offensively, we're in a funk purely on squaring up balls," Rhodes said. "We're doing a good job of seeing good pitches. There are a couple guys that are just a tick off and not finding the barrel right now, but that's going to come. That's just the way the offensive game works sometimes. It's a thing where we have some guys in a funk at the same time, where a week ago we had four or five guys who were red-hot at the same time. It's still nice to be able to score seven runs when you're not clicking on all cylinders. It goes to the fact that they're really competitive in the box."
The win clinched the series for SIU, which has won all four series this year. The Salukis are looking for their third sweep of the season on Sunday, with Brad Harrison taking the mound for a 12 p.m. first pitch.Â
"We hopefully aren't satisfied with this," Rhodes said. "We have to come out with intentions to get a sweep when we have the opportunity to have somebody on the ropes at home. We have a Conference USA opponent, and our mindset has to locked in, ready to go on that tomorrow. We have everyone locked and loaded in the bullpen. We're in good shape there. We have our full squad and an opportunity to give our best effort to get a sweep."
UP NEXT: SIU goes for the sweep on Sunday, with a 12 p.m. first pitch. Brad Harrison will take the mound for the Salukis.Â
NOTES: SIU improved to 10-1 at Itchy Jones Stadium, 15-1 at home under head coach Lance Rhodes, and 46-14 in its last 60 home games ... SIU is 21-1 in its last 22 games, dating back to last season ... Philip Archer's reached base streak was snapped at 27 games, which dated back to last season ... SIU improved to 3-0 all-time vs. Marshall. Prior to this series, the teams had not met since the 1973 NCAA Tournament ... Tristan Peters extended his reached base streak to 15-straight games ... SIU is ranked #27 in the Collegiate Baseball top-30 poll.Â
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"It's great to see us play such a sound defensive game," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "Across the board, many different people at many different positions made difficult plays look easy. Yesterday (after the game), we talked about having guys struggling at the plate and taking that out to the field a little bit. We wanted to make sure today that we separated the parts of the game. When you walk across the white line and play defense, the at-bats aren't still in your head. Today, we had some guys the scuffled a little bit offensively, but they made outstanding defensive plays. That's awesome to see. You can win games by knocking in runs, and you can win games by preventing runs. We did a little bit of both today."Â
Nick Neville got SIU's stellar defensive game started with a smooth play deep in the 5-6 hole in the first inning and followed it up with a run-saving diving play and throw in the second inning. Ian Walters made diving play to his left. Grey Epps made gloved a ball up the middle and made a spinning throw that Philip Archer dug out. And the capper came in the eighth inning, when J.T. Weber saved another run, connecting with Austin Ulick to throw out a runner at the plate.
"If we're able to play defense without at-bats in our mind, I truly believe we can be a top-five defensive team in the nation," Rhodes said. "Our defense is that good. We have rangey infielders and outfielders who can track down balls. When we throw strikes, I believe we can play defense with anyone in the country."
Tristan Peters started SIU's scoring with a clutch two-out, two-strike opposite field RBI single in the first inning. Marshall tied the game in the third, but SIU starter Ben Chapman got out of a runner-on-third, one-out jam to prevent Marshall (3-6) from taking a lead. SIU immediately responded with a three-run inning in the bottom of the third. Brad Hudson punctuated the inning with a great baserunning play. With runners on first and third and two outs, Marshall tried picking off Peters at first base, and Hudson broke for home and beat the tag to give SIU a 4-1 lead.Â
Chapman was outstanding for SIU, striking out eight in 6.2 innings and walking none. Chapman improved to 5-0 and has won every game he's started at SIU. After Marshall got a two-out run in the fourth to get within 4-2, Chapman settled into a groove and retired nine out of 10 before being lifted with two outs in the seventh after a single. In the two games against Marshall, SIU pitching has struck out 23 and walked none.Â
"Early in the game, when he was getting hit a little bit, Coach J (pitching coach Tim Jamieson) looked at me and said, 'He's throwing too many strikes,'" Rhodes said. "That's the art of being able to pitch at a really high level: knowing how to work in the zone and also around the zone when you need to. He will learn that part as he matures as a pitcher. I would rather have to be able to tell someone he needs to throw fewer strikes than more strikes. For him, it's getting ahead, and when you get ahead, how to expand that strike zone, as well."
With Chapman cruising, SIU's offense steadily increased the lead. Hudson and Nick Neville drove in a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to push SIU ahead 6-2. Neville and Peters led off the seventh with back-to-back doubles to set the final score at 7-2.Â
"We're still having a good approach. We're not chasing. When I say we're in a funk offensively, we're in a funk purely on squaring up balls," Rhodes said. "We're doing a good job of seeing good pitches. There are a couple guys that are just a tick off and not finding the barrel right now, but that's going to come. That's just the way the offensive game works sometimes. It's a thing where we have some guys in a funk at the same time, where a week ago we had four or five guys who were red-hot at the same time. It's still nice to be able to score seven runs when you're not clicking on all cylinders. It goes to the fact that they're really competitive in the box."
The win clinched the series for SIU, which has won all four series this year. The Salukis are looking for their third sweep of the season on Sunday, with Brad Harrison taking the mound for a 12 p.m. first pitch.Â
"We hopefully aren't satisfied with this," Rhodes said. "We have to come out with intentions to get a sweep when we have the opportunity to have somebody on the ropes at home. We have a Conference USA opponent, and our mindset has to locked in, ready to go on that tomorrow. We have everyone locked and loaded in the bullpen. We're in good shape there. We have our full squad and an opportunity to give our best effort to get a sweep."
UP NEXT: SIU goes for the sweep on Sunday, with a 12 p.m. first pitch. Brad Harrison will take the mound for the Salukis.Â
NOTES: SIU improved to 10-1 at Itchy Jones Stadium, 15-1 at home under head coach Lance Rhodes, and 46-14 in its last 60 home games ... SIU is 21-1 in its last 22 games, dating back to last season ... Philip Archer's reached base streak was snapped at 27 games, which dated back to last season ... SIU improved to 3-0 all-time vs. Marshall. Prior to this series, the teams had not met since the 1973 NCAA Tournament ... Tristan Peters extended his reached base streak to 15-straight games ... SIU is ranked #27 in the Collegiate Baseball top-30 poll.Â
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chapman, Ben (5-0)
L: Raymond Pacella (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Geordon Blanton 1 ; Kyle Schaefer 1 ; Jordon Billups 1
3B: Luke Edwards 1
RBI: Luke Edwards 1 ; Jordon Billups 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Geordon Blanton 1 ; Kyle Schaefer 1
HBP: Luke Edwards 1 ; Cole Williams 1
Batting:
2B: Neville, Nick 1 ; Peters, Tristan 1
RBI: Hudson, Brad 1 ; Neville, Nick 1 ; Peters, Tristan 3 ; Massaglia, Vinni 1
SF: Massaglia, Vinni 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Walters, Ian 1 ; Hudson, Brad 2 ; Neville, Nick 1 ; Ulick, Austin 1 ; Epps, Grey 2
SB: Walters, Ian 2 ; Hudson, Brad 1
CS: Walters, Ian 1
HBP: Walters, Ian 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
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RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
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