Southern Illinois University
16-6
Northwestern
7-10
Salukis Fall to Wildcats 10-4
03/25/2022 | 10:19:00 | Baseball
Right-hander Mike Hansell got the start on the mound and saw action in his seventh game of the season. SIU (16-6) saw the power hitting of Northwestern (7-10) as Ethan O'Donnell, Anthony Calarco, and Jay Beshears went yard over the wall in back-to-back solo home runs bringing the score 3-0 after one.
The Salukis dug into offense as right-fielder Jack Rigoni and first baseman Ryan Rodriguez got the bats moving. Rodriguez notched his sixth consecutive hit, to reach on a single down the on the left-hand side in the bottom of the third.
After earning another run in the third, Northwestern saw two come in in the top of the four with a two-run homer straight down the middle for center-fielder O'Donnell and a solo shot from second baseman Beshears – both their second of the evening.
Southern pounced on the fifth and sixth innings, reaching the board with an RBI single from Rigoni and a fielder's choice from Rodriguez and mark the scoreboard 7-2.
As right-hander Reed Smith came in relief for Wildcats' starter Sean Sullivan on the mound, shortstop Kaeber Rog swung deep into right field off the first pitch, anchoring his sixth homer of his Saluki career and shortened the gap by four runs.
Rallying up the end of the game, Northwestern sought an RBI single and advanced running to tally up three more runs within the eighth and ninth innings to widen the margin, as the Salukis' last scoring opportunity was off the bat of outfielder Nathan Bandy, who pulled in an RBI-single up the middle in the eighth.
Getting a start in the nine spot, left fielder Jack Rigoni went two-for-two at the plate with an RBI, followed by Rog who hit three-for-four on the Saluki offense.
The Salukis will battle Butler tomorrow inside Itchy Jones Stadium, first pitch scheduled for 4pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sean Sullivan (4-0)
L: Hansell, Mike (4-1)
Batting:
2B: Tony Livermore 1
HR: Ethan O'Donnell 2 ; Anthony Calarco 1 ; Jay Beshears 2
RBI: Ethan O'Donnell 3 ; Anthony Calarco 2 ; Jay Beshears 2 ; Vincent Bianchina 1 ; JC Santini 1
SH: Ethan O'Donnell 1 ; Ruben Fontes 1 ; JC Santini 1
SF: Vincent Bianchina 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ethan O'Donnell 2 ; Anthony Calarco 2 ; Jay Beshears 2 ; Tony Livermore 2 ; JC Santini 2
SB: Anthony Calarco 1 ; Andrew Pinkston 1
CS: Andrew Pinkston 1 ; Tony Livermore 1
HBP: Tony Livermore 2
Batting:
2B: Rog, Kaeber 1 ; Jensen, Zack 1 ; Taylor, Darren 1
HR: Rog, Kaeber 1
RBI: Rodriguez, Ryan 1 ; Rog, Kaeber 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 1 ; Rigoni, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rog, Kaeber 2 ; Cleveland, Cody 1 ; Taylor, Darren 1
SB: Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1
CS: Rodriguez, Ryan 1
