Southern Illinois University
2-3
Austin Peay
2-2
Controversial Call Late Cuts Salukis Rally Short in Clarksville
02/21/2023 | 6:59:00 | Baseball
In typical midweek fashion, it was a back-and-forth slugfest that saw eight balls hit over the wall, but Austin Peay (2-2) came out ahead thanks to two big innings. The Govs trailed 6-0 in the third but plated six runs in the bottom of the frame before pushing across four more in the fifth inning.
The Salukis struck early with three runs in the first inning to go ahead of Austin Peay. With two outs, Steven Loden drove in Kaeber Rog with a double to left before Pier-Olivier Boucher belted his second home run of the season to left before the Govs were able to record the third out,
Southern (2-3) added two more runs in the second when Nathan Bandy delivered a two-run home run to center and another run in the third on Matt Schark's RBI single to center.
Austin Peay would get their offense going in the third inning, sending 10 batters to the plate to tie the game up at six. Lyle Miller-Green drove in two with a double down the line right before the Salukis would go to the bullpen for Sam Replogle. The Govs would draw a walk to load the bases before Michael Robinson belted a grand slam to left to tie the game at six.
After the teams traded runs in the fourth, APSU went ahead for good in the fifth with a four-run inning. SIU was hit with another tough break as catcher's interference would be called on a fielder's choice that would extend the inning and APSU would take advantage of it, scoring four runs with two outs on the scoreboard.
Trailing by three in the ninth, Rhodes elected to pinch hit Noah Cook off the bench, and in his first at bat of the season, the redshirt junior delivered what would have been the tying run with a three-run homer before being called out at home after the play for not touching home plate.
Nathan Bandy hit two of SIU's four home runs in the game while Rodriguez was 3-for-6 with a double and a home run.
Matthew Steidl was saddled with the loss after giving up the go-ahead run in the fifth inning to fall to 0-1 on the season.
UP NEXT
Southern Illinois returns to the diamond this weekend with a three-game series on the road at Jacksonville State.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: HOLT, Campbell (1-0)
L: Steidl, Matthew (0-1)
S: ROBINSON, Jackie (1)
Batting:
2B: Rodriguez, Ryan 1 ; Loden, Steven 1
3B: Cook, Noah 1
HR: Rodriguez, Ryan 1 ; Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 2
RBI: Cook, Noah 2 ; Rodriguez, Ryan 2 ; Loden, Steven 1 ; Boucher, Pier-Olivier 2 ; Schark, Matt 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 5
Base Running:
RUNS: Eltoft, Bennett 1 ; Rog, Kaeber 1 ; Rodriguez, Ryan 1 ; Loden, Steven 1 ; Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1 ; Christman, Cole 1 ; Vallee, Mathieu 3 ; Schark, Matt 2 ; Bandy, Nathan 2
SB: Vallee, Mathieu 1
HBP: Eltoft, Bennett 1
Batting:
2B: GRAY, Clayton 1 ; VOITIK, Ambren 1 ; MILLER-GREEN, Lyle 1 ; GAZDAR, Jon Jon 1
HR: MARTIN, Garrett 2 ; ROBINSON, Michael 1
RBI: GRAY, Clayton 1 ; MARTIN, Garrett 2 ; VOITIK, Ambren 1 ; MILLER-GREEN, Lyle 2 ; BROWN, Jaden 1 ; GAZDAR, Jon Jon 1 ; GORE, Conner 1 ; ROBINSON, Michael 4
Base Running:
RUNS: MARTIN, Garrett 3 ; VOITIK, Ambren 2 ; MILLER-GREEN, Lyle 3 ; BROWN, Jaden 1 ; GAZDAR, Jon Jon 2 ; GORE, Conner 1 ; ROBINSON, Michael 1 ; CURTIS, Jacob 1
SB: BROWN, Jaden 1
HBP: GAZDAR, Jon Jon 1 ; GORE, Conner 1 ; CURTIS, Jacob 2
