Friday, April 8
Evansville, Ind.
6 P.M.
Southern Illinois University
22-8, 3-1
14
at
4
Evansville
14-15, 0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
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E
Southern Illinois
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
8
4
14
17
0
Evansville
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
4
11
1
Photo by: Will Becque
Late Comeback gives Salukis First MVC Road Win
04/08/2022 | 10:30:00 | Baseball
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The Southern Illinois University Salukis bounced back after a one-run markdown for two straight innings after big eighth and ninth slots sealed an 14-4 win against the Purple Aces of Evansville in Indiana Friday night. The Salukis have now won their conference road opener two years in a row.
Right-hander Mike Hansell made his ninth appearance on the mound for SIU (22-8, 3-1 MVC) in the evening. The Seattle native threw four strikeouts, allowing three earned runs and two walks in his four innings pitched. Reliever Matthew Steidl took over the job with the third batter in the bottom of four. Pitching four strikeouts and three hits, Steidl garnered his first win of the 2022 season, collectively seeing action in 12 games with two losses thus far.
Hitting early in the first, SIU got action off of Purple Aces (14-15, 0-1 MVC) starter Shane Gray. After back-to-back singles from center-fielder J.T. Weber and shortstop Kaeber Rog, two more passed balls from Gray to catcher Brendan Hord got runners moving and Weber in to put the Salukis on the board, 1-0.
Evansville got the lead back into the bottom of the second, RBI singles from right fielder Mark Shallenberge and first baseman Tanner Craig gave the Purple Aces the go-ahead lead into the middle with a 2-1 advantage.
Saluki right fielder Nathan Bandy had a night at the plate. The Arkansas native went three-for-five in the box, finding his first hit of the night into left field for an RBI single and tying the ballgame in the third. Evansville jumped back later in the bottom of the fifth inning, a sacrifice-fly into center off the bat of third baseman Brent Widder sent shortstop Simon Scherry home and a tie game on German American Bank Field.
SIU's big break came in the top of the eighth. Bandy walked, a single through the right side and his 22nd hit of his career for first baseman Ryan Rodriguez, and Evan Martin walking -- bases loaded with one out for the Salukis. Second baseman Grey Epps, not seeing a home run on the book since March 29 against UT-Martin, lined a fastball on the 1-1 count over the wall in left field. Clearing the bases, the grand slam marks the second for the Salukis on the season and gave the Dawgs the 6-3 lead.
Battling for more at the plate with one out, all nine in the Saluki line-up saw first base in the eighth inning. Southern edged for four more in the slot: Rog hit a shot up the middle to score third baseman Cody Cleveland, a wild pitch sent Weber home, and a two-run RBI single by catcher Nick Hagedorn solidified the inning and his first hit of the evening.
Only allowing one more, UE inched back in the bottom half of eight, seeing a run come home with a Widder groundout to third base, sending Shallenberge home with two outs.
The offense continued one last time for the Dawgs. With the Purple Aces' Max Malley behind the plate to catch, a Kaeber Rog double into right was good for an RBI to widen the lead. Jack Rigoni, now in left field, found his seventh hit of the year: a single into center and picked up two RBI's in the process. J.D. Ortiz, now pinch hitting for Martin, took home the last RBI of the evening. A single up the middle scored Rigoni and ended the Salukis swinging with a 14-4 win.
An evening in the batter's box, Kaeber Rog went four-for-five at the plate, following behind J.T. Weber (2-for-3), Nathan Bandy (3-for-5), Cody Cleveland (2-for-4), and Ryan Rodriguez (2-for-4). Collectively, the bullpen sought 10 strikeouts with four runs on 11 hits.
The Salukis are back for game two of the series tomorrow afternoon at Braun Stadium. First pitch is set for 2pm.
Right-hander Mike Hansell made his ninth appearance on the mound for SIU (22-8, 3-1 MVC) in the evening. The Seattle native threw four strikeouts, allowing three earned runs and two walks in his four innings pitched. Reliever Matthew Steidl took over the job with the third batter in the bottom of four. Pitching four strikeouts and three hits, Steidl garnered his first win of the 2022 season, collectively seeing action in 12 games with two losses thus far.
Hitting early in the first, SIU got action off of Purple Aces (14-15, 0-1 MVC) starter Shane Gray. After back-to-back singles from center-fielder J.T. Weber and shortstop Kaeber Rog, two more passed balls from Gray to catcher Brendan Hord got runners moving and Weber in to put the Salukis on the board, 1-0.
Evansville got the lead back into the bottom of the second, RBI singles from right fielder Mark Shallenberge and first baseman Tanner Craig gave the Purple Aces the go-ahead lead into the middle with a 2-1 advantage.
Saluki right fielder Nathan Bandy had a night at the plate. The Arkansas native went three-for-five in the box, finding his first hit of the night into left field for an RBI single and tying the ballgame in the third. Evansville jumped back later in the bottom of the fifth inning, a sacrifice-fly into center off the bat of third baseman Brent Widder sent shortstop Simon Scherry home and a tie game on German American Bank Field.
SIU's big break came in the top of the eighth. Bandy walked, a single through the right side and his 22nd hit of his career for first baseman Ryan Rodriguez, and Evan Martin walking -- bases loaded with one out for the Salukis. Second baseman Grey Epps, not seeing a home run on the book since March 29 against UT-Martin, lined a fastball on the 1-1 count over the wall in left field. Clearing the bases, the grand slam marks the second for the Salukis on the season and gave the Dawgs the 6-3 lead.
Battling for more at the plate with one out, all nine in the Saluki line-up saw first base in the eighth inning. Southern edged for four more in the slot: Rog hit a shot up the middle to score third baseman Cody Cleveland, a wild pitch sent Weber home, and a two-run RBI single by catcher Nick Hagedorn solidified the inning and his first hit of the evening.
Only allowing one more, UE inched back in the bottom half of eight, seeing a run come home with a Widder groundout to third base, sending Shallenberge home with two outs.
The offense continued one last time for the Dawgs. With the Purple Aces' Max Malley behind the plate to catch, a Kaeber Rog double into right was good for an RBI to widen the lead. Jack Rigoni, now in left field, found his seventh hit of the year: a single into center and picked up two RBI's in the process. J.D. Ortiz, now pinch hitting for Martin, took home the last RBI of the evening. A single up the middle scored Rigoni and ended the Salukis swinging with a 14-4 win.
An evening in the batter's box, Kaeber Rog went four-for-five at the plate, following behind J.T. Weber (2-for-3), Nathan Bandy (3-for-5), Cody Cleveland (2-for-4), and Ryan Rodriguez (2-for-4). Collectively, the bullpen sought 10 strikeouts with four runs on 11 hits.
The Salukis are back for game two of the series tomorrow afternoon at Braun Stadium. First pitch is set for 2pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Steidl, Matthew (1-2)
L: Hardman, Nate (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Rog, Kaeber 1
HR: Epps, Grey 1
RBI: Rog, Kaeber 2 ; Rigoni, Jack 2 ; Bandy, Nathan 1 ; Hagedorn, Nick 2 ; Ortiz, J.D. 1 ; Epps, Grey 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Cleveland, Cody 2 ; Weber, J.T. 4 ; Rog, Kaeber 2 ; Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1 ; Rigoni, Jack 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 1 ; Rodriguez, Ryan 1 ; Martin, Evan 1 ; Epps, Grey 1
SB: Cleveland, Cody 1 ; Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 1 ; Rodriguez, Ryan 2
HBP: Weber, J.T. 2
Batting:
2B: Scherry, Simon 1
RBI: Shallenberger, Mark 1 ; Craig, Tanner 1 ; Widder, Brent 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Shallenberger, Mark 1 ; Scherry, Simon 1 ; Roberts, Eric 1 ; Hord, Brendan 1
HBP: Widder, Brent 1 ; Hord, Brendan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
4
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
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