Sunday, February 18
Natchitoches, LA
12 PM
Southern Illinois University
3-0
15
at
11
Northwestern State
0-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Southern Illinois
0
5
0
0
0
0
6
0
4
15
13
2
Northwestern State
1
0
4
1
0
1
2
0
2
11
15
1
Photo by: Chris Reich – NSU Photographic Services
Recap | Saluki Baseball Claims Weekend Sweep of Northwestern State to Start 2024
02/18/2024 | 5:09:00 | Baseball
NATCHITOCHES, La. – Southern Illinois baseball capped off its weekend with a 15-11 win over Northwestern State Sunday afternoon at Brown-Stroud Field after rallying back from a 7-5 deficit to secure the weekend sweep.
The three-game sweep marks the first time that SIU has swept a single opponent to open the season since 2017 when the Salukis defeated Stetson on the road. Southern did open the Lance Rhodes era in the 2021 season with three straight victories – however, the wins were over three different opponents.
"A lot of things we teach, you can't really simulate in practice. It was nice to see that we have some older guys that can hear a message going into a season and go out and execute that message," Rhodes said after the game.
Trailing 1-0 in the second inning, Lower Gwynedd, Pa. native Steven Loden sent his third home run of the series out to left center to knot things up on the scoreboard. The Salukis would go ahead later in the inning when Mathieu Vallee drove in a run with a hard-hit ball on the infield.
The Salukis would send 11 batters to the plate in the second inning to take a 5-1 lead. Loden would cap off the scoring for SIU after reaching on a fielding error at shortstop.
Saluki starter Jake Combs would be relieved in the third after the Demons tied the game with a four-spot leaving way for Sam Myers who would pitch an inning and two-thirds giving up one run and striking out three.
NSU would go on to take the lead in the fourth and add another run in the sixth inning before the Salukis would get on the board again.
Matt Schark would tie the game for Southern with a two-run blast – one of his two hits and three RBIs on the day. That would be just the start for the Saluki offense which would score four more runs in the inning to take an 11-7 lead.
Vallee singled in a run before Trey Cutchen drove in two more with a single. Cutchen ended the SIU scoring run after coming home on a passed ball.
Southern went on to score four more runs to secure the sweep.
Vallee led the way for the SIU offense with four of the team's 13 base hits. Southern showed discipline at the plate once again, reaching base via walks 14 times in the game. Loden and newcomer Jake Allgeyer each drew three walks.
Cole Koonce was credited with the win after two and two-thirds innings in relief and Anthony Pron picked up the save after entering the game in the eighth with an 11-9 lead and runners on base.
UP NEXT
Southern Illinois is set for another road game on Tuesday when the team travels to UT Martin. The first pitch with the Skyhawks is set for 3 p.m.
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.
The three-game sweep marks the first time that SIU has swept a single opponent to open the season since 2017 when the Salukis defeated Stetson on the road. Southern did open the Lance Rhodes era in the 2021 season with three straight victories – however, the wins were over three different opponents.
"A lot of things we teach, you can't really simulate in practice. It was nice to see that we have some older guys that can hear a message going into a season and go out and execute that message," Rhodes said after the game.
Trailing 1-0 in the second inning, Lower Gwynedd, Pa. native Steven Loden sent his third home run of the series out to left center to knot things up on the scoreboard. The Salukis would go ahead later in the inning when Mathieu Vallee drove in a run with a hard-hit ball on the infield.
The Salukis would send 11 batters to the plate in the second inning to take a 5-1 lead. Loden would cap off the scoring for SIU after reaching on a fielding error at shortstop.
Saluki starter Jake Combs would be relieved in the third after the Demons tied the game with a four-spot leaving way for Sam Myers who would pitch an inning and two-thirds giving up one run and striking out three.
NSU would go on to take the lead in the fourth and add another run in the sixth inning before the Salukis would get on the board again.
Matt Schark would tie the game for Southern with a two-run blast – one of his two hits and three RBIs on the day. That would be just the start for the Saluki offense which would score four more runs in the inning to take an 11-7 lead.
Vallee singled in a run before Trey Cutchen drove in two more with a single. Cutchen ended the SIU scoring run after coming home on a passed ball.
Southern went on to score four more runs to secure the sweep.
Vallee led the way for the SIU offense with four of the team's 13 base hits. Southern showed discipline at the plate once again, reaching base via walks 14 times in the game. Loden and newcomer Jake Allgeyer each drew three walks.
Cole Koonce was credited with the win after two and two-thirds innings in relief and Anthony Pron picked up the save after entering the game in the eighth with an 11-9 lead and runners on base.
UP NEXT
Southern Illinois is set for another road game on Tuesday when the team travels to UT Martin. The first pitch with the Skyhawks is set for 3 p.m.
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: Koonce, Cole (1-0)
L: Shahrdar, J. (0-1)
S: Pron, Anthony (1)
Batting:
HR: Loden, Steven 1 ; Schark, Matt 1
RBI: Vallee, Mathieu 3 ; Eltoft, Bennett 1 ; Cutchen, Trey 2 ; Loden, Steven 1 ; Kodama, Anthony 1 ; Schark, Matt 3
SF: Eltoft, Bennett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Vallee, Mathieu 2 ; Eltoft, Bennett 1 ; Bach, Jordan 2 ; Cutchen, Trey 1 ; Loden, Steven 2 ; Kodama, Anthony 2 ; Schark, Matt 3 ; Allgeyer, Jake 2
SB: Vallee, Mathieu 1
HBP: Bach, Jordan 1 ; Cutchen, Trey 1
PO: Vallee, Mathieu 1
Batting:
2B: Jung, C. 1 ; Young, D. 1 ; Knotts, H. 1
3B: Jung, C. 1
HR: Gump, R. 1
RBI: Lipoma, R. 1 ; Gump, R. 4 ; Willis, B. 2 ; Jung, C. 3 ; Benton, B. 1
SH: Lipoma, R. 1
SF: Benton, B. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lipoma, R. 1 ; Gump, R. 3 ; Willis, B. 2 ; Knotts, H. 2 ; Starnes, J. 1 ; Hill, C. 2
HBP: Lipoma, R. 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
3
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballOF
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