Saturday, May 1
Carbondale, Ill.
2 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
29-12, 8-10
6
vs
5
Missouri State
15-13, 5-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Missouri State
0
1
0
0
3
1
0
5
10
1
SIU
0
0
0
1
0
5
X
6
8
1
Salukis sweep doubleheader, clinch series vs. Missouri State
05/01/2021 | 8:27:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The SIU baseball team won both games of a doubleheader in dramatic fashion and clinched the series against Missouri State on Saturday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium. In the first game, SIU overcame a four-run late-inning deficit to win 6-5. In the second game, Brad Harrison pitched a complete-game six-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over the Bears. SIU leads the series, three games to none.
Harrison improved to 7-0 with his second career complete-game shutout in the second game. He struck out 10 and didn't walk a batter, and he made SIU (30-12, 9-10 MVC) the 13th team in the nation to reach 30 wins this season.
"I haven't seen a complete game shutout in college baseball in a long time. The first inning was a little shaky, but once he got out of the first, it didn't feel like there was ever trouble," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "He was rock solid. I was never even nervous. That's as well pitched game as you can possibly have in Division I baseball."
In that second game of the doubleheader, Tristan Peters and Cody Cleveland hit back-to-back doubles with two outs in the first inning to give SIU a 1-0 lead that Harrison would never relinquish. The Salukis added a run in the sixth on a balk and took that 2-0 lead into the eighth. Philip Archer doubled SIU's lead with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. When Harrison gave up a two-out single in the ninth, Rhodes made a mound visit to make sure Harrison still felt good. Harrison assured Rhodes that he wanted to finish the game and got the game's final out on a popout.Â
"That was huge," Rhodes said of the Archer homer. "The ball was actually starting to carry pretty well by that point, and you're just a walk and a homer away from a tie game (if the lead had remained 2-0). To do that eighth was huge. It pushed the lead. It was 4-0 but felt like 10-0 when he hit that homer."
The magic of the shutout was matched by an incredible rally by the Salukis in their final at-bat of the first game of the doubleheader. In the first game, a seven inning game, Missouri State (15-14, 5-6 MVC) led it 5-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, but Kyle Back got SIU out of a jam in the top of the sixth to keep the deficit at only four runs, which proved to be huge. Facing MSU closer Hayden Juenger, J.T. Weber started the rally with a double. Tristan Peters drew a walk, and Cleveland drove home Weber with an RBI single to get SIU within 5-2. Philip Archer hit a line drive ground rule double that one-hopped over the right field wall to get SIU within 5-3. Then, the the biggest swing of the game: Evan Martin hit an opposite field three-run homer to cap the five-run sixth that gave SIU a 6-5 lead.Â
With all the drama of both games, a possible overlooked hero was SIU closer Trey McDaniel, who earned a save on Friday night, as well. In the first game of today's doubleheader, McDaniel gave up a leadoff double to Ben Whetstone in the seventh, and Whetstone represented the tying run in a 6-5 game, with the 3-4-5 hitters to follow. Facing the heart of Missouri State's order, McDaniel got a strikeout, a groundout, and another strikeout to preserve the victory.Â
"I don't know if we get a complete-game shutout if we don't come back in that first game," Rhodes said. "Momentum is such a huge key. We were down and we scored five there in the bottom of the last. That's huge momentum to carry into the second game of a doubleheader. They're both huge (the comeback in game one and the complete-game shutout in game two). Everything is huge at this point in the year -- every win, every moment. When you think about what carried over into the second game, there's no doubt that the momentum from Evan Martin blasting the ball of the net in left field was huge. You feel good when you're eating between games. It carries over into having a better attitude and effort going into the second game."
SIU's vaunted offense remained steady after showing a disciplined approach in Friday night's opener. SIU got only 15 hits, which has been below average for an SIU team that has a team batting average over .300, but it had hard-hit contact all day and struck out just eight times in the doubleheader, only once in the first game.Â
"This weekend looks like the offense we've seen all year," Rhodes said. "Now, we haven't had the hits to show for it. We're squaring it up but right at them. Their second baseman is wearing us out making plays over there. The center fielder is running everything down in the outfield. I don't want to complain because we've won all three games, but it's been a frustrating weekend offensively."
Making SIU's win even more impressive, preseason All-MVC shortstop Nick Neville missed both games after fouling a ball off his foot in yesterday's win. Ian Walters moved to shortstop, and Cody Cleveland played Walters' usual position of third base. And the Salukis committed just one error in the doubleheader.Â
"Some big guys are shuffling around playing different positions," Rhodes said. "Ian (Walters) played shortstop as if he's played it all year. Cody (Cleveland) plays third base with no mistakes. It's huge for those guys. They didn't make any excuses; they just went out and got the job done."
UP NEXT: Sunday's game has been moved up one hour and will now start at 12 p.m. due to forecasted inclement weather later in the afternoon. Ben Chapman will be on the mound for the Salukis.
NOTES: SIU became the 13th team in Division I baseball, and first in the MVC, to reach 30 wins this season ... SIU has won eight-straight home games, tied for the 10th-longest active home field winning streak in the nation ... SIU is 57-19 in its last 76 home games ... The Salukis won a series vs. Missouri State in Carbondale for the first time since 2007 (SIU won road series at Missouri State in 2010 and 2016) ... SIU has won five-straight games over Missouri State, dating back to the 2019 season, SIU's longest winning streak against the Bears in the history of the 118-game series ... Trey McDaniel improved to 8-for-8 in save opportunities this season and has converted 13-straight save opportunities dating back to late 2019 ... J.T. Weber extended his hitting streak to nine-straight games in the opener, and the streak was snapped in the second game of the doubleheader ... Neville, who had a pinch hit double in the first game, extended his reached base streak to 25-straight games.
Â
Harrison improved to 7-0 with his second career complete-game shutout in the second game. He struck out 10 and didn't walk a batter, and he made SIU (30-12, 9-10 MVC) the 13th team in the nation to reach 30 wins this season.
"I haven't seen a complete game shutout in college baseball in a long time. The first inning was a little shaky, but once he got out of the first, it didn't feel like there was ever trouble," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "He was rock solid. I was never even nervous. That's as well pitched game as you can possibly have in Division I baseball."
In that second game of the doubleheader, Tristan Peters and Cody Cleveland hit back-to-back doubles with two outs in the first inning to give SIU a 1-0 lead that Harrison would never relinquish. The Salukis added a run in the sixth on a balk and took that 2-0 lead into the eighth. Philip Archer doubled SIU's lead with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. When Harrison gave up a two-out single in the ninth, Rhodes made a mound visit to make sure Harrison still felt good. Harrison assured Rhodes that he wanted to finish the game and got the game's final out on a popout.Â
"That was huge," Rhodes said of the Archer homer. "The ball was actually starting to carry pretty well by that point, and you're just a walk and a homer away from a tie game (if the lead had remained 2-0). To do that eighth was huge. It pushed the lead. It was 4-0 but felt like 10-0 when he hit that homer."
The magic of the shutout was matched by an incredible rally by the Salukis in their final at-bat of the first game of the doubleheader. In the first game, a seven inning game, Missouri State (15-14, 5-6 MVC) led it 5-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, but Kyle Back got SIU out of a jam in the top of the sixth to keep the deficit at only four runs, which proved to be huge. Facing MSU closer Hayden Juenger, J.T. Weber started the rally with a double. Tristan Peters drew a walk, and Cleveland drove home Weber with an RBI single to get SIU within 5-2. Philip Archer hit a line drive ground rule double that one-hopped over the right field wall to get SIU within 5-3. Then, the the biggest swing of the game: Evan Martin hit an opposite field three-run homer to cap the five-run sixth that gave SIU a 6-5 lead.Â
With all the drama of both games, a possible overlooked hero was SIU closer Trey McDaniel, who earned a save on Friday night, as well. In the first game of today's doubleheader, McDaniel gave up a leadoff double to Ben Whetstone in the seventh, and Whetstone represented the tying run in a 6-5 game, with the 3-4-5 hitters to follow. Facing the heart of Missouri State's order, McDaniel got a strikeout, a groundout, and another strikeout to preserve the victory.Â
"I don't know if we get a complete-game shutout if we don't come back in that first game," Rhodes said. "Momentum is such a huge key. We were down and we scored five there in the bottom of the last. That's huge momentum to carry into the second game of a doubleheader. They're both huge (the comeback in game one and the complete-game shutout in game two). Everything is huge at this point in the year -- every win, every moment. When you think about what carried over into the second game, there's no doubt that the momentum from Evan Martin blasting the ball of the net in left field was huge. You feel good when you're eating between games. It carries over into having a better attitude and effort going into the second game."
SIU's vaunted offense remained steady after showing a disciplined approach in Friday night's opener. SIU got only 15 hits, which has been below average for an SIU team that has a team batting average over .300, but it had hard-hit contact all day and struck out just eight times in the doubleheader, only once in the first game.Â
"This weekend looks like the offense we've seen all year," Rhodes said. "Now, we haven't had the hits to show for it. We're squaring it up but right at them. Their second baseman is wearing us out making plays over there. The center fielder is running everything down in the outfield. I don't want to complain because we've won all three games, but it's been a frustrating weekend offensively."
Making SIU's win even more impressive, preseason All-MVC shortstop Nick Neville missed both games after fouling a ball off his foot in yesterday's win. Ian Walters moved to shortstop, and Cody Cleveland played Walters' usual position of third base. And the Salukis committed just one error in the doubleheader.Â
"Some big guys are shuffling around playing different positions," Rhodes said. "Ian (Walters) played shortstop as if he's played it all year. Cody (Cleveland) plays third base with no mistakes. It's huge for those guys. They didn't make any excuses; they just went out and got the job done."
UP NEXT: Sunday's game has been moved up one hour and will now start at 12 p.m. due to forecasted inclement weather later in the afternoon. Ben Chapman will be on the mound for the Salukis.
NOTES: SIU became the 13th team in Division I baseball, and first in the MVC, to reach 30 wins this season ... SIU has won eight-straight home games, tied for the 10th-longest active home field winning streak in the nation ... SIU is 57-19 in its last 76 home games ... The Salukis won a series vs. Missouri State in Carbondale for the first time since 2007 (SIU won road series at Missouri State in 2010 and 2016) ... SIU has won five-straight games over Missouri State, dating back to the 2019 season, SIU's longest winning streak against the Bears in the history of the 118-game series ... Trey McDaniel improved to 8-for-8 in save opportunities this season and has converted 13-straight save opportunities dating back to late 2019 ... J.T. Weber extended his hitting streak to nine-straight games in the opener, and the streak was snapped in the second game of the doubleheader ... Neville, who had a pinch hit double in the first game, extended his reached base streak to 25-straight games.
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Back, Kyle (1-0)
L: Juenger,Hayden (2-2)
S: McDaniel, Trey (8)
Batting:
2B: Whetstone,Ben 1 ; Wood,Grant 1 ; Kotowski,Dakota 1
3B: Hull,Mason 1
HR: Rolffs,Jaden 1
RBI: Cratic,Cam 1 ; Duffy,Jack 1 ; Rolffs,Jaden 1 ; Kotowski,Dakota 1 ; Hull,Mason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cratic,Cam 1 ; Rolffs,Jaden 1 ; Wood,Grant 1 ; Kotowski,Dakota 1 ; Hull,Mason 1
SB: Cratic,Cam 2
Batting:
2B: Weber, J.T. 1 ; Archer, Philip 1 ; Neville, Nick 1
HR: Martin, Evan 1
RBI: Cleveland, Cody 2 ; Archer, Philip 1 ; Martin, Evan 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Weber, J.T. 2 ; Peters, Tristan 1 ; Cleveland, Cody 1 ; Archer, Philip 1 ; Martin, Evan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
dh/rf
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball9.14.25 | Saluki Radio Postgame at UT Martin - Colin Bohanek
Sunday, September 14
9.14.25 | Saluki Radio Postgame at UT Martin - DJ Williams
Sunday, September 14
9.14.25 | Saluki Radio Postgame at UT Martin - Nick Hill
Sunday, September 14
Saluki Radio Football Broadcast - at UT Martin
Sunday, September 14