Sunday, March 7
Carbondale, Ill.
1 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
11-0
8
vs
3
UT Martin
3-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UT Martin
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
3
10
1
Southern Illinois
0
0
3
0
4
0
1
0
X
8
11
1
Salukis sweep UTM, run winning streak to 16-straight
03/07/2021 | 5:11:00 | Baseball
Postgame Pressers » Rhodes | Champan | Peters
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The SIU baseball team matched its best start in program history with an 8-3 win over UT Martin on Sunday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium. The Salukis improved to 11-0, matching the 1967 team for best start in program history.Â
The Salukis have won 16-straight games dating back to last season, which is tied for the fourth-longest winning streak in school history and the longest since 1990. SIU is the first team in the nation to reach 11-0 this season.
"A lot has to do with the culture we have. I've said this a ton of times: We have so many mature, older players in the program that show up every single day," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "They're the ones that are leading this team right now. It's fun to be able to sit back and watch and see them come to work every single day, putting in the effort that it takes to be successful. They've done a lot of behind-the-scenes work that people who watch them on game day don't get to see, how much time that they put into their practice between Monday and Thursday. It's nice to see them get rewarded for the hard work that they've put into it. They're good people; they're good players; and they work their butts off."
The Salukis and Skyhawks (3-6) were in a pitcher's duel in the early innings until the Salukis broke through with a three-run third inning. Austin Ulick got it started by tripling off the top of the right field wall after working an 11-pitch at-bat. That turned over the lineup to give SIU's vaunted top of the order another chance at UTM starter Eric Steensma, who started the game by retiring seven of the first eight hitters he faced -- four by strikeout. But the second time through was a different story. Ian Walters drove home Ulick. Evan Martin drew a walk. Tristan Peters drove home Walters with an RBI single, and then Peters and Martin perfectly executed a first-and-third steal to score a third run and give SIU a 3-0 lead.Â
Ben Chapman had a third-straight outstanding outing for SIU and improved to 3-0 in three starts this season. He filled up the strike zone, throwing 57 of 75 pitches for strikes, and allowed just one run on five hits while striking out seven. The run was the first earned run allowed by Chapman this season and ended a streak of 17-straight innings by Chapman without allowing an earned run. Through three starts, Chapman's ERA is at 0.50.Â
"His fastball was playing really well today," Rhodes said of Chapman. "If you look at the out pitches that he got, he was really locating the fastball well, whether it was outer, inner, or up in the strike zone. He's throwing three pitches for strikes. The biggest thing with him, when he's on the mound, is that he has a great tempo. The defense is always ready to play. He fills up the zone one pitch after another. You talk about a guy who is great to have on a Sunday when you're wanting to fill up the strike zone, he's done that every single Sunday."
UTM's fifth-inning run brought the Skyhawks within 3-1, but SIU broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth. Walters led off with a single. Nick Neville singled and made a heads-up baserunning play advancing to second while Walters beat a throw to third base. Peters followed with a three-run homer to give SIU a 6-1 lead, and two batters later, Philip Archer hit a solo homer to give SIU a 7-1 lead.Â
"(Peters) has been clutch all year, really, hitting in the middle of the order," Rhodes said. "He's a high on-base guy. He has a high contact rate. He's not going to strike out a ton. He also has surprising power, which we've seen several times throughout the year. That was a big swing in the game."
With the game in hand and conference play starting next week against Evansville, SIU got to use its bullpen the rest of the way. Gage O'Brien struck out the side in the sixth -- O'Brien now has 11 strikeouts in 5.0 innings on the season. Matthew Steidl, Bubba Hall, Braden Babcock, and Trey McDaniel closed out the final three innings, allowing two runs on five hits.Â
"Any time you can sweep a weekend, it's never easy, no matter who you play," Rhodes said. "Our guys came out well today. We were in a pretty good pitcher's duel early in the game. (SIU starter Ben) Chapman was throwing the ball extremely well. We wanted to keep him short with conference play coming up next week. We wanted to have all our starters ready to go for that. We also needed to get our bullpen guys into the game. We were able to get everyone in the game that we needed to. Again, the offense had some timely hits, but it was a very solid weekend overall."
UP NEXT: SIU starts Missouri Valley Conference play with a four-game series at Itchy Jones Stadium next weekend against Evansville. The Aces started their 2021 season with a win at #21 Georgia and have won five of their last eight games.
NOTES: SIU's 11-0 start is tied with the 1967 team for the best in program history ... SIU is the first team in the nation to reach 11-0 this season ... SIU has won 16-straight games dating back to last year, which is the second-longest active winning streak in the nation (Navy has won 18-straight games) ... SIU's 16-game winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest in program history and longest since 1990 (also a 16-game winning streak) ... Ian Walters extended his reached base streak to 32 games, which dates back to late in the 2019 season ... Philip Archer extended his reached base streak to 22 games, which dates back to last year ... Tristan Peters has an active nine-game hitting streak and has eight multi-hit games this season, including four-straight multi-hit games ... SIU is 10-0 at home under head coach Lance Rhodes (5-0 last year, 5-0 this year) ... SIU is 41-13 in its last 54 home games ... SIU has scored twice as many runs as its opponent in seven-straight games (outscored opponents 72-30 in that span) ... Longest winning streaks in school history: 24 games - 1973 and 1974; 17 games - 1964; 16 games - 1990 and 2020-21 (active).Â
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CARBONDALE, Ill. - The SIU baseball team matched its best start in program history with an 8-3 win over UT Martin on Sunday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium. The Salukis improved to 11-0, matching the 1967 team for best start in program history.Â
The Salukis have won 16-straight games dating back to last season, which is tied for the fourth-longest winning streak in school history and the longest since 1990. SIU is the first team in the nation to reach 11-0 this season.
"A lot has to do with the culture we have. I've said this a ton of times: We have so many mature, older players in the program that show up every single day," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "They're the ones that are leading this team right now. It's fun to be able to sit back and watch and see them come to work every single day, putting in the effort that it takes to be successful. They've done a lot of behind-the-scenes work that people who watch them on game day don't get to see, how much time that they put into their practice between Monday and Thursday. It's nice to see them get rewarded for the hard work that they've put into it. They're good people; they're good players; and they work their butts off."
The Salukis and Skyhawks (3-6) were in a pitcher's duel in the early innings until the Salukis broke through with a three-run third inning. Austin Ulick got it started by tripling off the top of the right field wall after working an 11-pitch at-bat. That turned over the lineup to give SIU's vaunted top of the order another chance at UTM starter Eric Steensma, who started the game by retiring seven of the first eight hitters he faced -- four by strikeout. But the second time through was a different story. Ian Walters drove home Ulick. Evan Martin drew a walk. Tristan Peters drove home Walters with an RBI single, and then Peters and Martin perfectly executed a first-and-third steal to score a third run and give SIU a 3-0 lead.Â
Ben Chapman had a third-straight outstanding outing for SIU and improved to 3-0 in three starts this season. He filled up the strike zone, throwing 57 of 75 pitches for strikes, and allowed just one run on five hits while striking out seven. The run was the first earned run allowed by Chapman this season and ended a streak of 17-straight innings by Chapman without allowing an earned run. Through three starts, Chapman's ERA is at 0.50.Â
"His fastball was playing really well today," Rhodes said of Chapman. "If you look at the out pitches that he got, he was really locating the fastball well, whether it was outer, inner, or up in the strike zone. He's throwing three pitches for strikes. The biggest thing with him, when he's on the mound, is that he has a great tempo. The defense is always ready to play. He fills up the zone one pitch after another. You talk about a guy who is great to have on a Sunday when you're wanting to fill up the strike zone, he's done that every single Sunday."
UTM's fifth-inning run brought the Skyhawks within 3-1, but SIU broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth. Walters led off with a single. Nick Neville singled and made a heads-up baserunning play advancing to second while Walters beat a throw to third base. Peters followed with a three-run homer to give SIU a 6-1 lead, and two batters later, Philip Archer hit a solo homer to give SIU a 7-1 lead.Â
"(Peters) has been clutch all year, really, hitting in the middle of the order," Rhodes said. "He's a high on-base guy. He has a high contact rate. He's not going to strike out a ton. He also has surprising power, which we've seen several times throughout the year. That was a big swing in the game."
With the game in hand and conference play starting next week against Evansville, SIU got to use its bullpen the rest of the way. Gage O'Brien struck out the side in the sixth -- O'Brien now has 11 strikeouts in 5.0 innings on the season. Matthew Steidl, Bubba Hall, Braden Babcock, and Trey McDaniel closed out the final three innings, allowing two runs on five hits.Â
"Any time you can sweep a weekend, it's never easy, no matter who you play," Rhodes said. "Our guys came out well today. We were in a pretty good pitcher's duel early in the game. (SIU starter Ben) Chapman was throwing the ball extremely well. We wanted to keep him short with conference play coming up next week. We wanted to have all our starters ready to go for that. We also needed to get our bullpen guys into the game. We were able to get everyone in the game that we needed to. Again, the offense had some timely hits, but it was a very solid weekend overall."
UP NEXT: SIU starts Missouri Valley Conference play with a four-game series at Itchy Jones Stadium next weekend against Evansville. The Aces started their 2021 season with a win at #21 Georgia and have won five of their last eight games.
NOTES: SIU's 11-0 start is tied with the 1967 team for the best in program history ... SIU is the first team in the nation to reach 11-0 this season ... SIU has won 16-straight games dating back to last year, which is the second-longest active winning streak in the nation (Navy has won 18-straight games) ... SIU's 16-game winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest in program history and longest since 1990 (also a 16-game winning streak) ... Ian Walters extended his reached base streak to 32 games, which dates back to late in the 2019 season ... Philip Archer extended his reached base streak to 22 games, which dates back to last year ... Tristan Peters has an active nine-game hitting streak and has eight multi-hit games this season, including four-straight multi-hit games ... SIU is 10-0 at home under head coach Lance Rhodes (5-0 last year, 5-0 this year) ... SIU is 41-13 in its last 54 home games ... SIU has scored twice as many runs as its opponent in seven-straight games (outscored opponents 72-30 in that span) ... Longest winning streaks in school history: 24 games - 1973 and 1974; 17 games - 1964; 16 games - 1990 and 2020-21 (active).Â
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chapman, Ben (3-0)
L: STEENSMA, Eric (0-1)
Batting:
2B: HARFORD, Casey 1
HR: WRIGHT, Houston 1
RBI: SMITH, Will 1 ; HALL, Christian 1 ; WRIGHT, Houston 1
SH: DAVIS, Blake 1
SF: SMITH, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HARFORD, Casey 1 ; WRIGHT, Houston 2
Batting:
3B: Ulick, Austin 1
HR: Peters, Tristan 1 ; Archer, Philip 1
RBI: Walters, Ian 1 ; Peters, Tristan 4 ; Archer, Philip 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Walters, Ian 2 ; Martin, Evan 1 ; Neville, Nick 2 ; Peters, Tristan 1 ; Archer, Philip 1 ; Ulick, Austin 1
SB: Walters, Ian 1 ; Martin, Evan 1 ; Peters, Tristan 2
HBP: Archer, Philip 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
3
RBI
4
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballINF
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