Friday, May 12
Carbondale, IL
6 PM
Southern Illinois University
28-22, 0
5
vs
8
Missouri St.
30-17, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Missouri State
0
2
0
0
0
2
0
2
2
8
12
2
Southern Illinois
0
0
0
1
0
2
1
1
0
5
14
0
Photo by: Abby Harris
Salukis Drop Series Opener with Missouri State, 8-5
05/12/2023 | 9:07:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois baseball outhit Missouri State 14-12 but dropped the series opener with the Bears 8-5 Friday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. Cole Christman and Mathieu Vallee each tallied three hits to lead the Salukis, but the difference was runners left on base as Southern left 10 on while MSU left just five.
Missouri State (30-17, 17-5 MVC) jumped out to an early lead in the second inning thanks to a two-run home run off the bat of Taeg Gollert – his 10th long ball of the season.
Southern (28-22, 13-9 MVC) threatened in the bottom of the third with runners on second and third with one out after Mathieu Vallee singled and Matt Schark doubled to left field. MSU's Brandt Thompson would get out of the inning unscathed though after recording a strikeout and a popup in foul territory to end the threat.
Steven Loden cut the Saluki deficit in half with one swing of the bat in the fourth inning as the second baseman lifted his team and Missouri Valley Conference-leading 17th home run of the season out to left field. The home run also tied Loden for second in program history in single-season home runs with Nick Neville (2021).
The Bears would get the run back an inning later after using a pair of looping doubles out to right field from Spencer Nivens and Zack Stewart to make it a 3-1 MSU lead. That signaled the end of the day for Saluki starter Jordan Bloemer as right-hander Matthew Steidl was called in from the bullpen. The Bears would get another run on an RBI single to extend their lead to 4-1.
The Salukis would get things going again in the bottom of the sixth after back-to-back base hits before Mathieu Vallee drove in two runs with a single to right to cut the MSU lead to just one run.
Christman tied the game in the seventh for the Salukis with an RBI single to center – his third base hit of the game.
Cody Kelly broke the tie in the eighth inning of action after the Bears put two runners on base. Kelly doubled off the bottom of the wall in right field to make it 6-4 in favor of Missouri State.
Nathan Bandy led off the eighth with a single to right which was misplayed in the field allowing the junior to move into scoring position. Pier-Olivier Boucher would bring Bandy home two batters later with a double to right to make it a 6-5 game. Missouri State went on to tack on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth to claim the series opener.
Bloemer pitched five and a third innings and allowed four runs on six hits while striking out four in the no decision. Steidl was hit with the loss after allowing the go-ahead runs in relief. The righty struck out three and have up two runs.
Thompson allowed just two runs for Missouri State in the start after pitching five and a third and striking out five. Trey Ziegenbein picked up the win to move to 3-4 on the season after pitching an inning and two-thirds in relief. Reed Metz picked up his first save of the season by closing out the final two innings. Gollert led the Bears at the plate with three hits and a trio of RBIs.
UP NEXT
Game two of the series is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Itchy Jones Stadium.
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Baseball, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiBaseball, and on Instagram at @SIU_Baseball. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.
Missouri State (30-17, 17-5 MVC) jumped out to an early lead in the second inning thanks to a two-run home run off the bat of Taeg Gollert – his 10th long ball of the season.
Southern (28-22, 13-9 MVC) threatened in the bottom of the third with runners on second and third with one out after Mathieu Vallee singled and Matt Schark doubled to left field. MSU's Brandt Thompson would get out of the inning unscathed though after recording a strikeout and a popup in foul territory to end the threat.
Steven Loden cut the Saluki deficit in half with one swing of the bat in the fourth inning as the second baseman lifted his team and Missouri Valley Conference-leading 17th home run of the season out to left field. The home run also tied Loden for second in program history in single-season home runs with Nick Neville (2021).
The Bears would get the run back an inning later after using a pair of looping doubles out to right field from Spencer Nivens and Zack Stewart to make it a 3-1 MSU lead. That signaled the end of the day for Saluki starter Jordan Bloemer as right-hander Matthew Steidl was called in from the bullpen. The Bears would get another run on an RBI single to extend their lead to 4-1.
The Salukis would get things going again in the bottom of the sixth after back-to-back base hits before Mathieu Vallee drove in two runs with a single to right to cut the MSU lead to just one run.
Christman tied the game in the seventh for the Salukis with an RBI single to center – his third base hit of the game.
Cody Kelly broke the tie in the eighth inning of action after the Bears put two runners on base. Kelly doubled off the bottom of the wall in right field to make it 6-4 in favor of Missouri State.
Nathan Bandy led off the eighth with a single to right which was misplayed in the field allowing the junior to move into scoring position. Pier-Olivier Boucher would bring Bandy home two batters later with a double to right to make it a 6-5 game. Missouri State went on to tack on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth to claim the series opener.
Bloemer pitched five and a third innings and allowed four runs on six hits while striking out four in the no decision. Steidl was hit with the loss after allowing the go-ahead runs in relief. The righty struck out three and have up two runs.
Thompson allowed just two runs for Missouri State in the start after pitching five and a third and striking out five. Trey Ziegenbein picked up the win to move to 3-4 on the season after pitching an inning and two-thirds in relief. Reed Metz picked up his first save of the season by closing out the final two innings. Gollert led the Bears at the plate with three hits and a trio of RBIs.
UP NEXT
Game two of the series is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Itchy Jones Stadium.
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Baseball, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiBaseball, and on Instagram at @SIU_Baseball. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ziegenbein,Trey (3-4)
L: Steidl, Matthew (2-7)
S: Metz,Reed (1)
Batting:
2B: Nivens,Spencer 1 ; Stewart,Zack 1 ; Kelly,Cody 1 ; Gollert,Taeg 1 ; Cratic,Cam 1 ; Robertson,Dylan 1
HR: Gollert,Taeg 1
RBI: Stewart,Zack 1 ; Kelly,Cody 2 ; Gollert,Taeg 3 ; Robertson,Dylan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rodriguez,Nick 1 ; Nivens,Spencer 1 ; Hull,Mason 1 ; Stewart,Zack 2 ; Gollert,Taeg 1 ; Duff,Will 1 ; Robertson,Dylan 1
CS: Gollert,Taeg 1
HBP: Hull,Mason 1
Batting:
2B: Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1 ; Christman, Cole 1 ; Vallee, Mathieu 1 ; Schark, Matt 1
HR: Loden, Steven 1
RBI: Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1 ; Loden, Steven 1 ; Christman, Cole 1 ; Vallee, Mathieu 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Eltoft, Bennett 1 ; Loden, Steven 2 ; Christman, Cole 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 1
CS: Vallee, Mathieu 1
HBP: Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1 ; Eltoft, Bennett 1 ; Schark, Matt 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
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1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballC
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INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
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