Saturday, March 19
Carbondale, Ill.
6 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
14-5
11
vs
4
Illinois
7-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Illinois
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
1
0
4
7
2
Southern Illinois
0
2
5
0
2
0
0
2
X
11
11
2
Pair of Home Runs by Epps Seals Win over Illini
03/19/2022 | 10:27:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois Salukis brought the heat to a chilly evening in Itchy Jones Stadium where 12 strikeouts and 11 hits solidified an 11-4 win over in-state rival the Fighting Illini of Illinois to tie up the series, 1-1.
The Salukis (14-5) came swinging first, catcher Nick Hagedorn hit a sacrifice fly into center field to send Cody Cleveland tagging and heading for home plate. Later, designated hitter Evan Martin lined to the corner of right field to make his way to third and pick up an RBI and lead SIU 2-0 going into the third.
Southern then notched an explosive bottom of the third inning, where SIU picked up five runs including a two-run home run straight to the flagpole off the bat of shortstop Kaeber Rog, his fifth on the season. After a passed ball sent right-fielder Nathan Bandy sliding home, first-baseman Ryan Rodriguez went one-for-two at the plate with a single into right-center and picked up two RBI's.
"You talk about a great college baseball environment, this is definitely one of the better environments that we've had", said head coach Lance Rhodes. "The team fed off this energy, it felt like a really good college baseball game."
Right-hander Noah Farmer took the start on the mound in Maroon. The Illini (7-9) got into their groove with an RBI single, advance on throwing error, and a walk to gain a three-run wedge and put themselves on the board. After collecting two strikeouts and five hits, right-hander Mike Hansell took over in relief.
The Seattle native produced a stellar night on the mound, posting a 1.86 ERA and 10 strikeouts – including two "three up, three down" innings, six K's in a row.
"I don't think he was two or three inches off [the plate] all night long. It's great when you can have a guy being able to throw multiple pitches for strikes and locate with his velocity. He's been phenomenal."
Alongside the defense was a two-run home run for second baseman Grey Epps, who was three-for-five at the plate. The senior shot a fastball over the wall in left field to showcase the power hitting of SIU and widen the gap.
The Illini battled at the plate once more, catcher Ryan Hampe got a piece of Hansell and took a solo shot over the wall to add one more on the Illini line.
Epps struck again, finding over the wall with another fastball into left, bringing in two more RBI's and solidifying the 11-4 final score. The offense from Epps marked his second and third home runs of the season and just the second multi-home run game of his career.
SIU and Illinois wrap up the series tomorrow afternoon inside Itchy Jones Stadium with first pitch being thrown at 1pm.
The Salukis (14-5) came swinging first, catcher Nick Hagedorn hit a sacrifice fly into center field to send Cody Cleveland tagging and heading for home plate. Later, designated hitter Evan Martin lined to the corner of right field to make his way to third and pick up an RBI and lead SIU 2-0 going into the third.
Southern then notched an explosive bottom of the third inning, where SIU picked up five runs including a two-run home run straight to the flagpole off the bat of shortstop Kaeber Rog, his fifth on the season. After a passed ball sent right-fielder Nathan Bandy sliding home, first-baseman Ryan Rodriguez went one-for-two at the plate with a single into right-center and picked up two RBI's.
"You talk about a great college baseball environment, this is definitely one of the better environments that we've had", said head coach Lance Rhodes. "The team fed off this energy, it felt like a really good college baseball game."
Right-hander Noah Farmer took the start on the mound in Maroon. The Illini (7-9) got into their groove with an RBI single, advance on throwing error, and a walk to gain a three-run wedge and put themselves on the board. After collecting two strikeouts and five hits, right-hander Mike Hansell took over in relief.
The Seattle native produced a stellar night on the mound, posting a 1.86 ERA and 10 strikeouts – including two "three up, three down" innings, six K's in a row.
"I don't think he was two or three inches off [the plate] all night long. It's great when you can have a guy being able to throw multiple pitches for strikes and locate with his velocity. He's been phenomenal."
Alongside the defense was a two-run home run for second baseman Grey Epps, who was three-for-five at the plate. The senior shot a fastball over the wall in left field to showcase the power hitting of SIU and widen the gap.
The Illini battled at the plate once more, catcher Ryan Hampe got a piece of Hansell and took a solo shot over the wall to add one more on the Illini line.
Epps struck again, finding over the wall with another fastball into left, bringing in two more RBI's and solidifying the 11-4 final score. The offense from Epps marked his second and third home runs of the season and just the second multi-home run game of his career.
SIU and Illinois wrap up the series tomorrow afternoon inside Itchy Jones Stadium with first pitch being thrown at 1pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hansell, Mike (4-0)
L: Gowens,Riley (2-1)
Batting:
HR: Hampe,Ryan 1
RBI: Doligale,Danny 1 ; McDonald,Cam 1 ; Hampe,Ryan 1
SF: McDonald,Cam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Campbell,Jacob 1 ; McDonald,Cam 1 ; Hampe,Ryan 2
SB: Sarver,Kellen 1
Batting:
3B: Martin, Evan 1
HR: Rog, Kaeber 1 ; Epps, Grey 2
RBI: Rog, Kaeber 2 ; Hagedorn, Nick 1 ; Epps, Grey 4 ; Martin, Evan 1 ; Rodriguez, Ryan 2
SF: Hagedorn, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Weber, J.T. 1 ; Rog, Kaeber 1 ; Cleveland, Cody 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 2 ; Hagedorn, Nick 2 ; Epps, Grey 3 ; Martin, Evan 1
SB: Bandy, Nathan 1 ; Epps, Grey 1 ; Martin, Evan 1
CS: Cleveland, Cody 1
HBP: Weber, J.T. 1 ; Hagedorn, Nick 1 ; Rodriguez, Ryan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
cf/1b
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
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