Sunday, March 24
Carbondale, IL
1 PM
Southern Illinois University
17-7, 0
9
vs
5
Valparaiso
8-14, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Valparaiso
0
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
5
10
1
Southern Illinois
0
0
0
0
3
0
4
2
X
9
7
1
Recap | Salukis Rally Back to Earn Weekend Sweep of Valpo
03/24/2024 | 4:21:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois rallied back from a three-run deficit early to earn a 9-5 victory over Valparaiso Sunday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium. With the win, the Salukis secured the series sweep over the Beacons and improved to 17-7 overall and 3-0 in Missouri Valley Conference action.
Valparaiso took its first lead of the series in the second inning when Kevin Denty led off with a solo home run out to right field – his third home run of the season. Saluki starting pitcher Aidan Foeller settled in though, tying his season-high in strikeouts with nine after just four innings of play.
The Beacons (8-14, 0-3 MVC) would add to their lead in the fifth after a leadoff double from Alex Ryan was followed by a two-run home run off the bat of designated hitter Chase Maifield.
Southern answered in the fifth inning tying the game with a trio of runs on three walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a pair of base hits to run Valpo starting pitcher Griffin McCluskey out of the game.
Bennett Eltoft and Mathieu Vallee opened the inning with walks before Nathan Bandy was hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Trey Cutchen then worked a walk to bring home the first run of the game before Southern would add another run on a fielder's choice by Jordan Bach. Three-hole hitter Cole Christman singled through the gap in the left side to bring in the tying run.
Foeller was able to work around a leadoff double by Valpo in the sixth. After the Beacons bunted the runner to third base, the right-hander was able to strike out the final two batters to end the threat.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, the Salukis picked up a gift from Valpo as an error extended the inning and scored two runs to put the Dawgs in front for the first time. Hesston Gray added two more insurance runs in the next at bat with a single up the middle.
Southern tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the eighth from Christman who doubled – his second base hit and third RBI to lead the team.
Ben Riffe earned the win to move to 1-0 after tossing a scoreless seventh inning. As a staff, the Salukis did not surrender a walk to the Beacons. SIU hitters were able to draw nine free passes in the game.
Griffin McCluskey went four innings and allowed two runs while striking out four in the start. Trent Turzenski (1-1) was hit with the loss after surrendering four runs – all unearned – in the seventh following an error.
UP NEXT
Southern Illinois returns to Itchy Jones Stadium on Tuesday as UT Martin comes to town for a midweek game. The game will air on ESPN Plus with the first pitch scheduled for 6 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.
Valparaiso took its first lead of the series in the second inning when Kevin Denty led off with a solo home run out to right field – his third home run of the season. Saluki starting pitcher Aidan Foeller settled in though, tying his season-high in strikeouts with nine after just four innings of play.
The Beacons (8-14, 0-3 MVC) would add to their lead in the fifth after a leadoff double from Alex Ryan was followed by a two-run home run off the bat of designated hitter Chase Maifield.
Southern answered in the fifth inning tying the game with a trio of runs on three walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a pair of base hits to run Valpo starting pitcher Griffin McCluskey out of the game.
Bennett Eltoft and Mathieu Vallee opened the inning with walks before Nathan Bandy was hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Trey Cutchen then worked a walk to bring home the first run of the game before Southern would add another run on a fielder's choice by Jordan Bach. Three-hole hitter Cole Christman singled through the gap in the left side to bring in the tying run.
Foeller was able to work around a leadoff double by Valpo in the sixth. After the Beacons bunted the runner to third base, the right-hander was able to strike out the final two batters to end the threat.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, the Salukis picked up a gift from Valpo as an error extended the inning and scored two runs to put the Dawgs in front for the first time. Hesston Gray added two more insurance runs in the next at bat with a single up the middle.
Southern tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the eighth from Christman who doubled – his second base hit and third RBI to lead the team.
Ben Riffe earned the win to move to 1-0 after tossing a scoreless seventh inning. As a staff, the Salukis did not surrender a walk to the Beacons. SIU hitters were able to draw nine free passes in the game.
Griffin McCluskey went four innings and allowed two runs while striking out four in the start. Trent Turzenski (1-1) was hit with the loss after surrendering four runs – all unearned – in the seventh following an error.
UP NEXT
Southern Illinois returns to Itchy Jones Stadium on Tuesday as UT Martin comes to town for a midweek game. The game will air on ESPN Plus with the first pitch scheduled for 6 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: Riffe, Ben (1-0)
L: Turzenski, Trent (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Denty, Kevin 1 ; Ryan, Alex 2
HR: Denty, Kevin 1 ; Maifield, Chase 1
RBI: Hannahs, Kaleb 1 ; Denty, Kevin 1 ; Patton, Liam 1 ; Maifield, Chase 2
SH: Thurston, Alex 1
SF: Hannahs, Kaleb 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Denty, Kevin 1 ; Giusti, Connor 1 ; Ryan, Alex 2 ; Maifield, Chase 1
Batting:
2B: Christman, Cole 1 ; Loden, Steven 1
RBI: Cutchen, Trey 1 ; Bach, Jordan 1 ; Christman, Cole 3 ; Gray, Hesston 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Cutchen, Trey 1 ; Bach, Jordan 1 ; Christman, Cole 1 ; Allgeyer, Jake 1 ; Loden, Steven 1 ; Eltoft, Bennett 1 ; Vallee, Mathieu 1 ; Bandy, Nathan 2
SB: Cutchen, Trey 1 ; Christman, Cole 1 ; Loden, Steven 1 ; Gray, Hesston 2
HBP: Bandy, Nathan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/OF
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OF
/ BaseballC
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OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
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