Recap | Salukis Fall in Extras to Arkansas State, 10-8 - Southern Illinois University Athletics

Tuesday, April 15

Carbondale, IL

6 PM

Southern Illinois University

24-12

Arkansas State

17-19

Arkansas State

Southern Illinois

Photo by: Abby Harris

Recap | Salukis Fall in Extras to Arkansas State, 10-8

04/15/2025 | 10:49:00 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Tim McCaughan, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois battled for 11 innings but ultimately came up short, falling 10-8 to Arkansas State in a non-conference marathon Tuesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. With the loss, the Salukis and Red Wolves split the season series with each squad winning on the road.

Southern Illinois (24-12) jumped out early with three first-inning runs, fueled by a two-run homer from Jordan Bach and an RBI single by Cecil Lofton. Bach finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs, including his fifth home run of the season.

After Arkansas State (17-19) cut the lead to 3-2 in the third, SIU quickly answered with a four-run bottom half, highlighted by John Lemm's two-run single. Southern capitalized on an error in the outfield to push its lead to 7-2 by the end of the frame.

Despite SIU's early offensive success, Arkansas State responded with four runs in the fourth inning to tie the game at seven, chasing Saluki starter Al Holguin after 3.1 innings. Holguin allowed four runs on three hits and struck out four.

The Red Wolves took the lead with two runs in the sixth, but Southern Illinois continued to fight, tying the game at eight in the bottom of the ninth inning. Michael Mylott delivered the tying run on a sacrifice fly, scoring Bach to extend the game to extra innings.

Southern Illinois received strong bullpen performances from Tanner Gerdes, Jackson Payne, and Sam Frizzi, who combined for 4.2 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out seven to keep the Salukis within reach.

The contest remained deadlocked until the top of the 11th inning, when Arkansas State pushed across two decisive runs on RBI hits from Wil French and Cross Jumper off reliever Dylan Petrey (4-3), who took the loss.

SIU had opportunities throughout, leaving 10 runners on base, but was unable to capitalize late against Arkansas State reliever Brett Foss (1-0), who earned the victory after throwing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.

UP NEXT
Southern Illinois faces off with Belmont this weekend at Itchy Jones Stadium. The series is scheduled to begin on Thursday and finish on Saturday due to Easter, but weather may alter the schedule. Stay tuned for schedule changes on SIUSalukis.com.

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