Thursday, May 18
Murray, KY
5 PM
Southern Illinois University
29-24, 14-11
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Murray St.
28-25, 13-12
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Southern Illinois
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Murray State
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Salukis Drop Opener with Murray State, 10-7
05/18/2023 | 8:19:00 | Baseball
Due to impending weather, Friday’s game with Murray State has been moved to a 1 p.m. start at Reagan Field.
MURRAY, Ky. – Southern Illinois baseball scored five-straight runs in the sixth and seventh innings to take a 6-4 lead, but Murray State rattled off six runs in the seventh to take the series opener, 10-7, Thursday night at Reagan Field.
Trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, Bennett Eltoft hit one of his two doubles to cut the Murray State lead in half with a ball just short of a home run in right field to score Steven Loden all the way from first base.
After MSU plated two more runs in the fifth, Eltoft doubled once again, scoring two runs for the Salukis during a three-run sixth inning that ran MSU starting pitcher Jacob Pennington out of the game. Ryan Rodriguez tripled for the first time in his SIU career to cap off a three-run sixth to tie the game at four.
Southern Illinois used four-straight two-out base hits in the seventh inning, Mathieu Vallee singled to start the inning before moving to third on a single from Pier-Olivier Boucher. Boucher moved into scoring position with his team-leading 19th stolen base of the year. Kaeber Rog would give Southern its first base hit of the day with a two-RBI single to center field before Murray was able to end the seventh.
The wheels came off for the Salukis in the bottom half of the seventh as SIU used four pitchers in the frame as Murray sent 11 hitters to the plate. Three-straight walks followed by a two-run single tied the game and the Racer would clear the bases with a three-run home run from Drew Vogel to take a 9-6 lead. MSU added another run three batters later when Ethan Krizen singled in the fourth Racer to reach base on a walk in the inning.
SIU would get a home run from Matt Schark in the ninth – his eighth of the season – but it wasn't enough as Murray would go on to take the opener.
Jordan Bloemer went four and a third innings in the start for the Salukis. The lefty struck out six and gave up four runs on seven hits. Scott Harper ended a Murray State threat in the fifth after entering with two on and one out but walked the first two batters he saw in the sixth to spark the Racer run late.
Matthew Steidl (2-8) was hit with the loss after allowing the go-ahead run in the seventh. Paul Bonzagni allowed three runs on three hits in just two-thirds of an inning.
Vallee, Loden and Eltoft had two hits each to lead SIU.
Brennan McCullough was 4-for-5 from the plate with three RBIs for MSU. Vogel added two hits and four RBIs from the five-hole.
Matt Boynton was credited with the win for the Racers, improving to 5-2 on the year. Pennington went five and two third innings and struck out six, allowing four runs – three of which came in the sixth.
UP NEXT
Due to impending weather, Friday's game with Murray State has been moved to a 1 p.m. start at Reagan Field.
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.
Trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, Bennett Eltoft hit one of his two doubles to cut the Murray State lead in half with a ball just short of a home run in right field to score Steven Loden all the way from first base.
After MSU plated two more runs in the fifth, Eltoft doubled once again, scoring two runs for the Salukis during a three-run sixth inning that ran MSU starting pitcher Jacob Pennington out of the game. Ryan Rodriguez tripled for the first time in his SIU career to cap off a three-run sixth to tie the game at four.
Southern Illinois used four-straight two-out base hits in the seventh inning, Mathieu Vallee singled to start the inning before moving to third on a single from Pier-Olivier Boucher. Boucher moved into scoring position with his team-leading 19th stolen base of the year. Kaeber Rog would give Southern its first base hit of the day with a two-RBI single to center field before Murray was able to end the seventh.
The wheels came off for the Salukis in the bottom half of the seventh as SIU used four pitchers in the frame as Murray sent 11 hitters to the plate. Three-straight walks followed by a two-run single tied the game and the Racer would clear the bases with a three-run home run from Drew Vogel to take a 9-6 lead. MSU added another run three batters later when Ethan Krizen singled in the fourth Racer to reach base on a walk in the inning.
SIU would get a home run from Matt Schark in the ninth – his eighth of the season – but it wasn't enough as Murray would go on to take the opener.
Jordan Bloemer went four and a third innings in the start for the Salukis. The lefty struck out six and gave up four runs on seven hits. Scott Harper ended a Murray State threat in the fifth after entering with two on and one out but walked the first two batters he saw in the sixth to spark the Racer run late.
Matthew Steidl (2-8) was hit with the loss after allowing the go-ahead run in the seventh. Paul Bonzagni allowed three runs on three hits in just two-thirds of an inning.
Vallee, Loden and Eltoft had two hits each to lead SIU.
Brennan McCullough was 4-for-5 from the plate with three RBIs for MSU. Vogel added two hits and four RBIs from the five-hole.
Matt Boynton was credited with the win for the Racers, improving to 5-2 on the year. Pennington went five and two third innings and struck out six, allowing four runs – three of which came in the sixth.
UP NEXT
Due to impending weather, Friday's game with Murray State has been moved to a 1 p.m. start at Reagan Field.
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: Boynton, Matt (5-2)
L: Steidl, Matthew (2-8)
Batting:
2B: Eltoft, Bennett 2
3B: Rodriguez, Ryan 1
HR: Schark, Matt 1
RBI: Rog, Kaeber 2 ; Eltoft, Bennett 3 ; Rodriguez, Ryan 1 ; Schark, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vallee, Mathieu 1 ; Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1 ; Loden, Steven 2 ; Christman, Cole 1 ; Eltoft, Bennett 1 ; Schark, Matt 1
SB: Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1
Batting:
HR: Vogel, Drew 1 ; Howell, Taylor 1
RBI: McCullough, Brennan 3 ; Vogel, Drew 4 ; Howell, Taylor 2 ; Krizen, Ethan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bland, Logan 2 ; Mercer, Dustin 2 ; McCullough, Brennan 1 ; Vogel, Drew 1 ; Garner, Carson 2 ; Howell, Taylor 1 ; Gardner, Seth 1
CS: McCullough, Brennan 2
Game Leaders
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Players Mentioned
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