Life in the Valley

Salukis, Redbird Winners in Wednesday Action

Southern Illinois couldn’t have had a worse start to its home game Wednesday against Western Illinois, giving up a snowman in the 1st inning to fall behind, 8-0. But, on a positive note, that left the Salukis (21-16, 5-7 MVC) as many innings as possible to catch up, and SIU did that in more, reeling in Western Illinois with 3 runs in the 7th inning to tie the game at 11, then scoring in the 12th to win it, 12-11.

Trey Cutchen (.287-3-22) had the game-winning hit for the Salukis (21-16), a single to right that scored Jordan Bach (.301-2-18). The hit made a winner out of Easton Dermody (3-1, 3.06), who pitched 3 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits and 0 walks with 4 strikeouts to get the win. He, Cole Koonce (4.86 ERA), Anthony Pron (3.96), and Scott Harper (5.91) pitched a combined 8 innings of scoreless baseball to allow the Salukis to get back into the game and eventually win it.

Early on, though, things didn’t look so good. Western sent 11 men to the plate in the top of the 1st, including 2 plate appearances each for Liam Bushey and Cesar Franco, who hit back-to-back homers to start the game. Bushy then homered again in the 1st, a grand slam that made it 8-0. He finished 5-for-7 with 5 RBIs and 12 total bases.

SIU somewhat innocently started its comeback in the 2nd, scoring a run on Bennett Eltoft’s (.189-3-21) single that scored Ryan Birr (.235-0-0). But Western piled on 3 more in the 4th on J.R. Heavilin’s homer to make it 11-1 and seemingly put the game out of reach.

But nothing is out of reach in college baseball these days.

SIU brought things well into play in the 4th, scoring 6 times. Cole Christman’s (.339-8-36; 1.037 OPS) 2-run homer and Jake Allgeyer’s (.290-2-21) 2-run double did most of the damage, while Hesston Gray (.287-8-33) had an RBI triple and Nathan Bandy (.351-1-23) singled in Gray to make it 11-7. Bandy’s 6th-inning double scored Christman to make its 11-8 and Christman’s 2-run double in the 7th scored Mathieu Vallee (.345-3-27; .928) and Birr to cut the Western lead to 1. Later in the 7th, Allgeyer scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.

It stayed 11-11 until the 12th, when Cutchen delivered to finish off the Leathernecks, who fell to 7-25 (3-9 OVC) on the season. Christman went 5-for-7 for SIU with 2 runs and 4 RBIs. Seven different Salukis had at least 2 hits and the top 4 in the lineup – Vallee, Allgeyer, Christman, and Bach – all scored 2 runs each (as did Birr). SIU outhit Western, 20-18.

Illinois State 8, Lindenwood 6: The Redbirds (19-15, 7-5 MVC) scored 5 runs in the opening 3 innings and held on for an 8-6 victory at Lindenwood (12-24, 5-7 OVC) Wednesday. Daniel Pacella (.356-7-46; 1.074) hit a solo homer in the 1st inning to start the scoring, while Judah Morris (.298-6-29; .944) went deep for a 2-run shot in the 3rd to make it 5-1. Lindenwood got within 7-6 in the 7th inning but Morris doubled in Luke Lawrence (.342-3-35) with an insurance run in the 9th for the 8-6 final. Morris went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs to lead Illinois State’s 11-hit attack. Pacella, Tyler Herron (.315-1-9), and Luke Stulga (.381-0-2) all had 2 hits each for the Redbirds. Carter Monke (3-1, 8.22) started and went 5 innings to get the win, striking out 2 with 0 walks on 60 pitches (4.00 pitches per out). Joe Husak (2-2, 2.70) got the final 5 outs for his 4th save.

Iowa 11, Bradley 6: Bradley took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the 6th inning at Iowa City Wednesday, but couldn’t on as the Iowa Hawkeyes scored 8 runs in their final 3 turns on offense to beat the Braves, 11-6. Timmy O’Brien (.308-6-33; .911) hit a pair of solo homers, while Nick Hosie (1.72-3-7) also did yard work, a 3-run shot in the 4th inning that gave Bradley a 5-3 lead. But other than the homers, the Braves could only manage 3 other hits. Iowa (19-15, 6-6 Big Ten) had 10 hits, drew 6 walks, and stole 7 bases in the win. The Braves (10-24, 4-8 MVC) have lost 6 straight.

Today on Valley Diamonds: All is quiet.

If You’re Starved for College Baseball: ACC rivals meet in Raleigh, N.C. at 6 p.m. Central tonight, as 11th-ranked North Carolina (29-8, 14-4 ACC) opens a conference series at N.C. State (20-14, 10-8). The game airs on ACC Network.