Southern Illinois University
16-5
Arkansas State
4-14
Salukis Outslug Red Wolves, 6-5
03/23/2022 | 7:00:00 | Baseball
Right-hander Jake Combs took the bump first in maroon. Battling for his second win of the season, the Houston native threw six strikeouts in three innings before right-hander Jordan Gould took over over and garnered the win.
Starting off the bats for the Salukis (16-5) was third baseman Cody Cleveland. While stealing third base, a throwing error sent Cleveland home and runners in scoring position with only one out. Right fielder Evan Martin later shot an RBI double through the left side totaling the score 3-0 in favor of SIU in the first inning.
Rallying up the score and bringing it to a 5-0 game by the bottom of the second, shortstop Kaeber Rog hit an RBI double into left-center and later returning off of a groundout to first as Rog headed home.
The Red Wolves (4-14) bounced back though, Arkansas State catcher Brandon Combs knocked a fastball over the wall in left field, putting the Red Wolves on the board with three. Only scoring off of home runs, A-State picked up one more in the top of the fifth: a solo shot down the middle from first baseman Jared Toler.
Another Red Wolves error widened the gap for the Salukis, bringing the score 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth sending J.T. Weber home and advancing the runners. The Sun-Belt members made one last attempt to challenge SIU, a sacrifice into left of off the bat of shortstop Wil French led to the 6-5 finale.
An afternoon at the plate, Cody Cleveland (2-for-4), Kaeber Rog (3-for-5), and Nathan Bandy (3-for-5) all swung big for the Salukis. Bandy had his best day in the box, swinging .345 and recording three hits -- his best of the season.
With a change of location, SIU will now host Northwestern and Butler in round-robin style this weekend. First pitch is set for the Salukis and Wildcats at 6pm Friday evening.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gould, Jordan (2-0)
L: Hudson, Brandon (0-2)
S: McDaniel, Trey (2)
Batting:
HR: Toler, Jared 1 ; Hager, Brandon 1
RBI: Toler, Jared 1 ; Hager, Brandon 3 ; French, Wil 1
SF: French, Wil 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Toler, Jared 1 ; Klutts, Ben 1 ; Deshazier, Jaylon 2 ; Hager, Brandon 1
SB: French, Wil 1
CS: French, Wil 1
HBP: Klutts, Ben 1
Batting:
2B: Cleveland, Cody 1 ; Rog, Kaeber 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 1 ; Martin, Evan 1
RBI: Rog, Kaeber 1 ; Jensen, Zack 1 ; Martin, Evan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Cleveland, Cody 2 ; Weber, J.T. 2 ; Rog, Kaeber 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 1
SB: Cleveland, Cody 1 ; Weber, J.T. 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 1
CS: Cleveland, Cody 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 1
HBP: Epps, Grey 1 ; Taylor, Darren 1
PO: Bandy, Nathan 1
