Southern Illinois University
30-24, 15-11
Murray St.
28-26, 13-13
Salukis Clinch No. 3/4 Seed at MVC Tournament with 11-4 Win at Murray State
05/19/2023 | 4:27:00 | Baseball
Matt Schark and Bennett Eltoft were a big part of Southern's offensive success, accounting for six hits, including five extra-base hits in the win. Schark hammered two home runs in the game after homering in the opener – now with 10 home runs on the season. Eltoft drove in three runs on a pair of doubles. The junior now has four doubles in two games at Murray to lead the Salukis.
SIU (30-24, 15-11 MVC) would get strong pitching to help even the series. Right-hander Easton Dermody was a late addition to the starting rotation as Tanner Lewis continues to mend a hip injury. Dermody would go five complete innings and allow just two runs in the game while striking out six Racers to improve to 3-3 on the year. Matthew Steidl finished the final four innings out of the bullpen for the Salukis and struck out six to earn his second save.
Down 2-0 after three innings, SIU would get on the board thanks to a Cole Christman RBI single in the fourth. In the fifth, Schark hit his first home run of the game to even the score at two runs apiece.
Southern would take advantage of a walk and four hits in the sixth to plate three runs and never look back. Ryan Rodriguez led off the inning with a double before Eltoft put runners on the corners with a single out to center. Christman and Schark drove in the first two runs on sacrifice flies and Kaeber Rog capped off the inning by stealing home.
After the Racers (28-26, 13-13 MVC) cut the lead to one run in the seventh, the Salukis pushed five runs across in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach. Schark hit a one-out home run to center before the Salukis loaded the bases and Eltoft cleared them with his second double of the game.
SIU recorded 16 hits in the game while holding the Racers to just six. In two games, Southern has 27 base hits.
Bryce Valero took the loss for the Racers, falling to 4-3 on the season. Cade Vernon went four and two third innings in the start, allowing two runs on five hits.
UP NEXT
The teams will close the regular season Saturday with first pitch set for 1 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dermody, Easton (3-3)
L: Valero, Bryce (4-3)
S: Steidl, Matthew (2)
Batting:
2B: Rodriguez, Ryan 2 ; Eltoft, Bennett 2 ; Schark, Matt 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 1
3B: Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1
HR: Schark, Matt 2
RBI: Vallee, Mathieu 1 ; Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1 ; Eltoft, Bennett 3 ; Christman, Cole 2 ; Schark, Matt 3
SH: Vallee, Mathieu 1 ; Christman, Cole 1
SF: Christman, Cole 1 ; Schark, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vallee, Mathieu 1 ; Boucher, Pier-Olivier 1 ; Loden, Steven 1 ; Rodriguez, Ryan 2 ; Eltoft, Bennett 2 ; Rog, Kaeber 2 ; Schark, Matt 2
SB: Rog, Kaeber 1
HBP: Loden, Steven 1
Batting:
2B: Bingham, Gunnar 1
3B: McCullough, Brennan 1
HR: Bland, Logan 1
RBI: Bland, Logan 2 ; Mercer, Dustin 1 ; McCullough, Brennan 1
SH: Bland, Logan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bland, Logan 1 ; Krizen, Ethan 2 ; Gardner, Seth 1
