Friday, May 28
2 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
39-19
8
vs
11
Indiana State
29-17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Indiana State
1
1
1
0
1
2
2
0
3
11
11
0
SIU
2
0
0
2
1
0
1
0
2
8
11
0
Salukis stay alive in MVC Tournament
05/28/2021 | 9:58:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - After a heartbreaking 11-8 loss to Indiana State, the SIU baseball team stayed alive in the MVC Tournament with an 11-5 win over Valparaiso at Itchy Jones Stadium on Friday. Only three teams remain in the double-elimination tournament, and SIU advances to face the loser of the Indiana State vs. Dallas Baptist game, which starts at 11 a.m. SIU's game against Indiana State or Dallas Baptist is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.Â
"It's a very tough thing to do in tournament baseball, to be in a close game that has a lot of emotion, drop that game, and then turn around in 40 minutes and play another game," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "Noah (Farmer) hung in there and gave our offense a chance. We really struggled the first three innings of the second game emotionally. Grey (Epps) stepped up and hit a three-run homer that gave the energy back to the dugout. We fought. That second game, we were feeling it a little bit. I'm right there with them. It hurt to lose that first game, but we were able to bounce back and live for another day. We can sleep on this and come back refreshed. I think we'll play well."
With the win over Valpo, SIU (40-19) earned its 40th win of the season, becoming the ninth team in the nation to reach that milestone this year, joining Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Ole Miss, East Carolina, Old Dominion, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.Â
"That's huge," Rhodes said of SIU getting to 40 wins. "I know we're completely locked in on trying to piece the next three games together so that we can win this tournament, but 40 wins is special, no matter who you are."
The first game of the day was against Indiana State, which has a top-35 RPI in the nation. SIU, which was looking to add a sixth Quad 1 win to its resume, went back-and-forth with the Sycamores throughout the early innings. Indiana State (29-17) took a 1-0 lead in the first. Nick Neville hit a two-run homer to give the Salukis a 2-1 lead in the bottom half. The Sycamores tied the game in the second and took the lead in the third. SIU answered right back with a two-run fourth inning to take a 4-3 lead, and the Trees tied the game in the top of the fifth.Â
The game turned in the next two half-innings. In the bottom of the fifth, SIU took a 5-4 lead on a Tristan Peters RBI double and had runners at second and third with one out. With a chance to get a multi-run lead, Neville, who was 2-for-2 with two home runs, was called out on strikes on a pitch low and away, and Indiana State got out of the inning without further damage. Then, in the top of the sixth, Indiana State had the same situation -- second and third with one out -- and scored both runs to take a 6-5 lead. The go-ahead run came on a two-out RBI single by Sean Ross.Â
Another two-out hit by the Sycamores (29-17) proved pivotal, this one a two-run single by Brian Fuentes that pushed Indiana State's lead to 8-5. SIU got a run back in the seventh to get within 8-6, but Indiana State loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning and pushed across three runs to take an 11-6 lead, which turned out to be the difference after J.T. Weber hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to set the final score at 11-8.Â
The second game was an elimination game between SIU and Valparaiso. The Salukis came out sluggish and Valpo (16-35) took a 2-0 lead with a pair of unearned runs in the third inning. SIU turned the game around in the fourth. Grey Epps hit a three-run homer to give SIU a 3-2 lead. In the fifth, Philip Archer (RBI single) and Ian Walters (sacrifice fly) added to more to give SIU a 5-2 lead. The Salukis tacked on four in the seventh and two more in the eighth to make it 11 unanswered runs after the 2-0 deficit. Valpo hit a two-run homer in the eighth and a solo shot in the ninth to set the final score at 11-5.Â
Noah Farmer gave SIU's offense a chance to break the game open in the Valpo game. Farmer induced a huge 4-6-3 double play to get out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first inning. After the unearned runs in the third, Farmer faced only one over the minimum from the fourth inning through the seventh, including another double play ball in the fifth.Â
UP NEXT: Dallas Baptist and Indiana State face each other at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 29. SIU will face the loser of that game at 3 p.m.
NOTES: SIU's 40 wins are the most for the program since 1990 (49-14) ... SIU's 40 wins are tied for fifth-most in the nation ... SIU's five Quad 1 wins are tied with DBU for most in the MVC and tied for 11th-most among non-Power 5 schools ... SIU is fifth in the nation in runs scored and second in the nation in hits ... Nick Neville broke a 41-year-old record for most home runs in a season. Neville hit his 16th and 17th homers of the season, breaking Jerry Miller's record of 16 home runs set in 1980 ... J.T. Weber has 15 homers this year, which is tied for third in a season in school history (Neville (2021) 17, Miller (1980) 16, and Robert Jones (1986) 15) ... Weber has 63 RBIs this season, the most by any Saluki since Chris Serritella drove in 64 runs in 2010 ... SIU has hit 82 home runs this year, a school record (previous record: 75 homers in 1997).
"It's a very tough thing to do in tournament baseball, to be in a close game that has a lot of emotion, drop that game, and then turn around in 40 minutes and play another game," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "Noah (Farmer) hung in there and gave our offense a chance. We really struggled the first three innings of the second game emotionally. Grey (Epps) stepped up and hit a three-run homer that gave the energy back to the dugout. We fought. That second game, we were feeling it a little bit. I'm right there with them. It hurt to lose that first game, but we were able to bounce back and live for another day. We can sleep on this and come back refreshed. I think we'll play well."
With the win over Valpo, SIU (40-19) earned its 40th win of the season, becoming the ninth team in the nation to reach that milestone this year, joining Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Ole Miss, East Carolina, Old Dominion, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.Â
"That's huge," Rhodes said of SIU getting to 40 wins. "I know we're completely locked in on trying to piece the next three games together so that we can win this tournament, but 40 wins is special, no matter who you are."
The first game of the day was against Indiana State, which has a top-35 RPI in the nation. SIU, which was looking to add a sixth Quad 1 win to its resume, went back-and-forth with the Sycamores throughout the early innings. Indiana State (29-17) took a 1-0 lead in the first. Nick Neville hit a two-run homer to give the Salukis a 2-1 lead in the bottom half. The Sycamores tied the game in the second and took the lead in the third. SIU answered right back with a two-run fourth inning to take a 4-3 lead, and the Trees tied the game in the top of the fifth.Â
The game turned in the next two half-innings. In the bottom of the fifth, SIU took a 5-4 lead on a Tristan Peters RBI double and had runners at second and third with one out. With a chance to get a multi-run lead, Neville, who was 2-for-2 with two home runs, was called out on strikes on a pitch low and away, and Indiana State got out of the inning without further damage. Then, in the top of the sixth, Indiana State had the same situation -- second and third with one out -- and scored both runs to take a 6-5 lead. The go-ahead run came on a two-out RBI single by Sean Ross.Â
Another two-out hit by the Sycamores (29-17) proved pivotal, this one a two-run single by Brian Fuentes that pushed Indiana State's lead to 8-5. SIU got a run back in the seventh to get within 8-6, but Indiana State loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning and pushed across three runs to take an 11-6 lead, which turned out to be the difference after J.T. Weber hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to set the final score at 11-8.Â
The second game was an elimination game between SIU and Valparaiso. The Salukis came out sluggish and Valpo (16-35) took a 2-0 lead with a pair of unearned runs in the third inning. SIU turned the game around in the fourth. Grey Epps hit a three-run homer to give SIU a 3-2 lead. In the fifth, Philip Archer (RBI single) and Ian Walters (sacrifice fly) added to more to give SIU a 5-2 lead. The Salukis tacked on four in the seventh and two more in the eighth to make it 11 unanswered runs after the 2-0 deficit. Valpo hit a two-run homer in the eighth and a solo shot in the ninth to set the final score at 11-5.Â
Noah Farmer gave SIU's offense a chance to break the game open in the Valpo game. Farmer induced a huge 4-6-3 double play to get out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first inning. After the unearned runs in the third, Farmer faced only one over the minimum from the fourth inning through the seventh, including another double play ball in the fifth.Â
UP NEXT: Dallas Baptist and Indiana State face each other at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 29. SIU will face the loser of that game at 3 p.m.
NOTES: SIU's 40 wins are the most for the program since 1990 (49-14) ... SIU's 40 wins are tied for fifth-most in the nation ... SIU's five Quad 1 wins are tied with DBU for most in the MVC and tied for 11th-most among non-Power 5 schools ... SIU is fifth in the nation in runs scored and second in the nation in hits ... Nick Neville broke a 41-year-old record for most home runs in a season. Neville hit his 16th and 17th homers of the season, breaking Jerry Miller's record of 16 home runs set in 1980 ... J.T. Weber has 15 homers this year, which is tied for third in a season in school history (Neville (2021) 17, Miller (1980) 16, and Robert Jones (1986) 15) ... Weber has 63 RBIs this season, the most by any Saluki since Chris Serritella drove in 64 runs in 2010 ... SIU has hit 82 home runs this year, a school record (previous record: 75 homers in 1997).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Buraconak,Will (1-1)
L: Lewis, Tanner (4-2)
S: Grauer,Tyler (3)
Batting:
2B: Urdaneta,Josue 1
HR: Schaffer,Jordan 2 ; Wright,Max 1
RBI: Schaffer,Jordan 2 ; Wright,Max 2 ; Fuentes,Brian 2 ; Rivera,Miguel 1 ; Beck,Aaron 1 ; Cusumano,Dominic 1 ; Ross,Sean 2
SH: Beck,Aaron 1
SF: Beck,Aaron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schaffer,Jordan 4 ; II,Ellison Hanna 2 ; Wright,Max 1 ; Fuentes,Brian 1 ; Rivera,Miguel 1 ; Beck,Aaron 1 ; Urdaneta,Josue 1
CS: Ross,Sean 1
HBP: Wright,Max 1 ; Rivera,Miguel 1 ; Beck,Aaron 1
Batting:
2B: Weber, J.T. 1 ; Peters, Tristan 1 ; Archer, Philip 1
HR: Weber, J.T. 1 ; Neville, Nick 2
RBI: Weber, J.T. 2 ; Peters, Tristan 2 ; Neville, Nick 3 ; Martin, Evan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Weber, J.T. 3 ; Neville, Nick 2 ; Archer, Philip 1 ; Ulick, Austin 2
SB: Martin, Evan 1
HBP: Cleveland, Cody 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
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