Recap | Baseball earns first win behind Nigut's five no-hit frames

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Oct 17

2 PM

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Eastern Illinois University

Oct 24

2 PM

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Central Methodist University

EDINBURG, Texas – Southern Illinois baseball picked up its first win of the season by a score of 7-2 over Texas Rio Grande Valley Saturday night in Edinburg, Texas. Alec Nigut's five no-hit innings and a four-run top of the fifth powered the Salukis to even up the series.

After a scoreless first three frames, the Dawgs drew first blood with Gabe Petrucelli's sacrifice fly that scored Kaleb Hall.

Cecil Lofton scored Justin Keuss with an RBI double in the top of the fifth, starting the four-run rally. Southern then scored on three straight at-bats with Jordan Bach, Matt Schark and Petrucelli all knocking in runs.

Left-hander Alec Nigut (1-0) made his season debut on the mound. The Des Moines, Iowa, native pitched five innings and did not allow a hit, only surrendering two baserunners via walk and striking out six.

The Vaqueros looked primed to start a rally in the bottom of the sixth after Damien Whitfield tallied the team's first hit with a double that set UTRGV up with runners on second and third and no outs. Saluki reliever Gavan Wernsing limited the damage to just one run by retiring the next three batters.

Michael Mylott stretched the lead back to five after an RBI double in the top of the eighth inning, his third hit of the night.

Jacob Sanchez hit a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth, but the Vaqueros gave a run right back with a throwing error in the top of the ninth, allowing Schark to score the Salukis' seventh run and lead by five with three outs left in the affair.

Sam Frizzi closed out the bottom of the ninth for Southern, retiring all three Vaqueros he faced, including a strikeout.

UTRGV starter Victor Loa (0-1) was lifted after 3.0 innings, allowing the first two runners to reach in the top of the fourth.

Mylott led the Salukis with three hits coming off his three-RBI performance on Friday.

UP NEXT
The Salukis and Vaqueros will play the rubber match of the weekend series Sunday. The first pitch scheduled for noon, and the game will air on ESPN Plus.

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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.

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