
Salukis Split Saturday Games with Bradley
04/01/2023 | 6:53:00 | Baseball
Game One – Southern Illinois 9, Bradley 5
Leading 4-2 in the eighth inning on Friday before the game was suspended due to weather, Southern Illinois tacked on five more runs when play resumed Saturday en route to claiming the series opener against Bradley, 9-5.
Kaeber Rog extended the Saluki lead to 5-2 with an RBI sacrifice fly in the eighth before Southern put up a four-spot in the ninth.
Paul Bonzagni did not allow a run in 1.2 innings in the resumption. Ben Chapman pitched five shutout innings in the start to earn the win. The right-hander struck out four and allowed just four base hits.
Bennett Eltoft smashed his fifth home run of the year in the eighth inning before play was stopped Friday, finishing with two RBIs in the game. Pier-Olivier Boucher and Mathieu Vallee led the Salukis with three hits each. Matt Schark was 1-for-2 with three walks in the game.
Game Two – Bradley 6, Southern Illinois 5
Both squads struggled early, leaving the bases loaded in the first inning of action with the only difference being an RBI single from Kaeber Rog putting the Salukis ahead in the top half.
The lead didn't last long for Southern as the Braves put up a four-spot in the second, capped off by a three-run home run from Connor O'Brien to jump out to a 4-1 lead.
Steven Loden drove in a run in the third to cut the Bradley lead to two runs but the Braves would get two of their own in the fourth to make it 6-2. The Salukis would make it a one-run game in the fifth after scoring a run on a wild pitch before Loden connected on his second hit of the game – a two-run single.
The Salukis loaded the bases in the ninth, but Bradley's Connor Langrell would work out of the jam with a trio of popups to end the rally.
Jake Combs took the loss for the Salukis after allowing four runs in an inning and two-thirds. Easton Dermody pitched three and a third innings out of the bullpen, striking out two and Jordan Bloemer tossed three scoreless innings.
Bradley's Jacob Norris collected the win in relief, pitching four innings and allowing just one hit and striking out three.
UP NEXT
The Salukis and Braves will play the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN Plus.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chapman, Ben (3-0)
L: J. Kisting (0-4)

Batting:
2B: Vallee, Mathieu 1
3B: Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1
HR: Eltoft, Bennett 1
RBI: Eltoft, Bennett 2 ; Boucher, Pier-Olivier 2 ; Rog, Kaeber 2 ; Schark, Matt 1
SH: Eltoft, Bennett 1
SF: Eltoft, Bennett 1 ; Rog, Kaeber 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Eltoft, Bennett 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 2 ; Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1 ; Loden, Steven 2 ; Vallee, Mathieu 2 ; Schark, Matt 1
SB: Bandy, Nathan 1 ; Boucher, Pier-Olivier 2 ; Vallee, Mathieu 1
CS: Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1
HBP: Bandy, Nathan 1 ; Loden, Steven 1

Batting:
HR: C. O'Brien 1
RBI: C. O'Brien 3 ; C. Husmann 1 ; C. Manthey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: J. Chatterto 1 ; C. O'Brien 2 ; L. Delgado 1 ; C. Manthey 1
SB: R. Vogel 1
HBP: C. Manthey 1