Southern Illinois University
30-11, 7-3
Valparaiso
13-24, 2-8
Salukis shutout Beacons to take series opener
04/29/2022 | 9:04:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Jordan Bloemer, Tanner Lewis and Matthew Steidl combined to shutout the Valparaiso Beacons, 4-0. With the win, Southern takes the series opener from Valpo and improves to 30-11 on the season.
"It was an all-around good win for us," head coach Lance Rhodes said. "Its always nice to win big but it is also nice to be in these types of games as well. These are championship-type games and NCAA Tournament-type of games that we need to continue to learn how to win."
Bloemer started for SIU and threw four and two-third scoreless innings. Lewis took the ball from Bloemer and got Southern out of the fifth unscathed with an emphatic strikeout. He surrendered just two hits over three scoreless innings to earn the win and improved to 3-1 on the season. Steidl came on in relief of Lewis and immediately made his presence felt with a strikeout to strand two Beacons. Steidl earned his team-best fourth save of the season after he gave up just two hits in an inning and a third.
"We pitched in and out of traffic all night," Rhodes said. "We knew we had to match Collin Fields and that it would be this type of a game. I didn't know it was going to be zero to zero heading into the sixth, but I knew it would be low scoring. We kept throwing up zeros and never panicked even when there was traffic, which was big for us. Tanner probably had his best best outing of the season and Steidl was really good once again."
Southern broke through in the bottom of the sixth. Kaeber Rog and Ryan Rodriguez hit back-to-back doubles to score the first run of the frame. Rodriguez later came around to score on a single by Evan Martin to put SIU ahead 2-0.
"Ryan laced two balls down the right field line. He does a really good job of staying on the baseball. It seems like he has been in a lot of big situations for us this season and has come through in a lot of them."
In the seventh, a one-out triple by Valpo's Alex Thurston looked like it could spell trouble for SIU. However, Lewis induced a grounder to third and Rodriguez fired home to get Thurston out at the plate.
The Beacons got a runner to third with two outs in the eighth. After a two-out walk put runners on the corner, Lance Rhodes gave the ball to Steidl, who promptly struck out the first batter he faced to keep the shutout intact.
After a one-out double by Jeremy Schork in the bottom of the eighth, Nathan Bandy followed with a single to plate Schork's pinch runner, Sam Creed. Evan Martin added to SIU's lead with a RBI-triple that scored Bandy from second.
Six different Salukis recorded hits in the win, led by Rodriguez and Martin. Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a RBI while Martin was 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk and two RBI.
Southern's shutout on Friday was its second of the conference season and its fifth in MVC play over the last two years.
Saturday's game against the Beacons will start at Noon. Southern will retire Itchy Jones' No. 1 jersey prior to the game during a ceremony beginning at 11:35 a.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lewis, Tanner (3-1)
L: Fields, Colin (4-3)
S: Steidl, Matthew (4)
Batting:
3B: Thurston, Alex 1
Base Running:
HBP: Renfro, Brady 1 ; Tucker, Nolan 1
Batting:
2B: Weber, J.T. 1 ; Rog, Kaeber 1 ; Rodriguez, Ryan 2 ; Schork, Jeremy 1
3B: Martin, Evan 1
RBI: Rodriguez, Ryan 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 1 ; Martin, Evan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rog, Kaeber 1 ; Rodriguez, Ryan 1 ; Creed, Sam 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 1
CS: Weber, J.T. 1
HBP: Weber, J.T. 1
