Tuesday, April 2
Carbondale, IL
6 PM
Southern Illinois University
19-10
8
vs
2
Lindenwood
7-20
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Lindenwood
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
2
7
2
Southern Illinois
5
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
X
8
9
1
Photo by: Abby Harris
Recap | Salukis Power Past Lindenwood to Sweep Season Series
04/02/2024 | 8:42:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois baseball completed the season sweep of Lindenwood Tuesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium, defeating the Lions 8-2.
It was all about the long ball as Southern hit three home runs in the win with two coming off the bat of Hesston Gray. It marked the third time this season that Gray has hit multiple home runs in the game as the junior moved into a tie for the team lead with eight homers on the season.
Trey Cutchen led the game off with a home run from his leadoff spot to give Southern the early lead and SIU never looked back. The last time that SIU led off a game with a home run was 366 days prior when Nathan Bandy led off a game against Lindenwood with a home run on April 3, 2023.
The Salukis (19-10) added four other runs in the five-run first inning. Steven Loden doubled home a run before Gray cleared the bases with a three-run blast to left field – his first of the game.
Southern would add another run in the bottom of the second when Cole Christman brought in Cutchen with a sacrifice fly.
Lindenwood (7-20) would crack the scoreboard with an RBI single from Filip Sarota in the fourth before the Salukis answered in the bottom half with two more runs when Gray sent out his second home run of the game to left field to make it an 8-1 game and the rest was academic as the Salukis got back into the win column.
Left-hander Alec Nigut pitched five complete in his sixth start of the year. Nigut struck out three and walked one while allowing just one unearned run to move to 4-1.
The SIU bullpen combined to allow just one run in the final four innings. Ben Riffe struck out one in the sixth while Anthony Pron retired the side on strikeouts in the seventh. Cole Koonce struck out two of the four batters he faced in the eighth and Kade Coombe struck out three of the five batters he faced in the ninth the close out the game.
Three Salukis had multiple hits led by Gray who was 2-for-4 with five RBIs. Cutchen and Loden each went for a pair of base hits as SIU outhit Lindenwood 9-7.
Michael Walsh lasted just an inning and a third for the Lions in the start, allowing six runs on five hits to fall to 0-5 on the year.
UP NEXT
SIU returns to action this weekend when the Salukis travel to Chicago for a weekend series with UIC.
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on X 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.
It was all about the long ball as Southern hit three home runs in the win with two coming off the bat of Hesston Gray. It marked the third time this season that Gray has hit multiple home runs in the game as the junior moved into a tie for the team lead with eight homers on the season.
Trey Cutchen led the game off with a home run from his leadoff spot to give Southern the early lead and SIU never looked back. The last time that SIU led off a game with a home run was 366 days prior when Nathan Bandy led off a game against Lindenwood with a home run on April 3, 2023.
The Salukis (19-10) added four other runs in the five-run first inning. Steven Loden doubled home a run before Gray cleared the bases with a three-run blast to left field – his first of the game.
Southern would add another run in the bottom of the second when Cole Christman brought in Cutchen with a sacrifice fly.
Lindenwood (7-20) would crack the scoreboard with an RBI single from Filip Sarota in the fourth before the Salukis answered in the bottom half with two more runs when Gray sent out his second home run of the game to left field to make it an 8-1 game and the rest was academic as the Salukis got back into the win column.
Left-hander Alec Nigut pitched five complete in his sixth start of the year. Nigut struck out three and walked one while allowing just one unearned run to move to 4-1.
The SIU bullpen combined to allow just one run in the final four innings. Ben Riffe struck out one in the sixth while Anthony Pron retired the side on strikeouts in the seventh. Cole Koonce struck out two of the four batters he faced in the eighth and Kade Coombe struck out three of the five batters he faced in the ninth the close out the game.
Three Salukis had multiple hits led by Gray who was 2-for-4 with five RBIs. Cutchen and Loden each went for a pair of base hits as SIU outhit Lindenwood 9-7.
Michael Walsh lasted just an inning and a third for the Lions in the start, allowing six runs on five hits to fall to 0-5 on the year.
UP NEXT
SIU returns to action this weekend when the Salukis travel to Chicago for a weekend series with UIC.
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on X 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: Nigut, Alec (4-1)
L: WALSH, Michael (0-5)
Batting:
2B: JETT, James 1 ; FUNKHOUSER, Evan 1
HR: ARNETTE, Bryson 1
RBI: ARNETTE, Bryson 1 ; SAROTA, Filip 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ARNETTE, Bryson 1 ; JETT, James 1
Batting:
2B: Loden, Steven 1 ; Vallee, Mathieu 1
HR: Cutchen, Trey 1 ; Gray, Hesston 2
RBI: Cutchen, Trey 1 ; Christman, Cole 1 ; Loden, Steven 1 ; Gray, Hesston 5
SF: Christman, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cutchen, Trey 2 ; Christman, Cole 1 ; Allgeyer, Jake 1 ; Loden, Steven 2 ; Gray, Hesston 2
HBP: Bandy, Nathan 1 ; Eltoft, Bennett 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
5
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
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