Southern Illinois University
38-19
Evansville
35-22
Baseball Squeaks By No. 4 Evansville, 10-9
05/25/2005 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 25, 2005
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
WICHITA, Kan. - No. 3 Southern Illinois (38-19) exploded for five runs in the sixth inning, and scored all but two of its runs with two outs during a thrilling 10-9 win over No. 4 Evansville (35-22) in the first round of the 2005 ConAgra Foods Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Despite blowing a couple of early leads and stranding 10 runners on base, SIU managed to hold off the Aces in what ended up being one wild affair.
"It was emotionally draining and I feel like I just got beat up in a fight," said Saluki head coach Dan Callahan. "There were some great plays, some errors and clutch hits here and there. It was a see-saw game, and I guess if you get to play an emotional game like that, it's a great one to win."
SIU saw its leadoff man hit safely in six of eight innings, and probably the biggest of those hits came via the Salukis' dangerous leadoff man himself, Kevin Koski.
Koski started the bottom of the sixth by beating out a throw from UE second baseman Kyle Smith.
"When I start off an inning, and if I can get on base, it's a big lift for our team," Koski said. "I just put my head down, ran as fast as I could, and was lucky to beat it out."
Koski wasn't on the bases long, as P.J. Finigan's double scored him on the next play. Finigan then touched home on a one-out sacrifice fly by Matt Brewer, and the Dawgs were in business.
Little did the Aces know, SIU was just getting started, as back-to-back doubles by Dean Cademartori and Chris McCulloch, a walk by Hunter Harrigan and a double by Erik Alvarez rallied the Salukis with two outs. McCulloch's hit knocked in Cademartori, while Alvarez's scored both McCulloch and Harrigan to regain a 10-8 lead for SIU.
McCulloch finished at 3-for-4 with three clutch two-out RBIs on the day.
"I went up there and battled as hard as I could," said McCulloch in regards to his key at-bats. "I just tried to get the job done."
SIU led by scores of 2-0 and 5-2 in the first four innings, but UE came back with four runs to take a 6-5 lead in the fifth.
Saluki ace Tyler Norrick struggled in his second-straight start, and ran into serious trouble the fifth, where UE played a little small ball.
Ryan Barrett and Kern Watts started things off with back-to-back bunt singles. An ensuing single by Robbie Minor followed, and Barrett scored. Shortly after Erik Lis struck out, cleanup hitter Dustin Knight cleared the bases with a three-run bomb to left.
The momentum from Knight's homer carried over to the sixth, where UE extended its lead to 8-5 after Eric Jones scored on a fielder's choice and Barrett touched came across on a two-out double by Minor.
UE would score one more run to pull to within, 10-9, in the seventh, but left-hander Bryan Rueger ended the Aces hopes of another comeback.
Rueger, normally SIU's game three starter, recorded some huge outs in two strong relief innings earn the first save of his career.
In the eighth, Rueger picked off Minor and struck out Jeff Fontaine to get out of the inning. In the ninth, he closed things out by recording a pair of strikeouts and getting Kyle Smith to hit into a fielder's choice.
Adam Snyder (2-3), who took over for Norrick in the fifth, struck out two in 2.2 innings to pick up his second win of the season. Norrick gave up seven hits and six runs, while striking out five in 4.1 innings before Snyder entered the game.
Kai Tuomi (5-3) suffered the loss for UE. He scattered four hits and allowed five runs in 1.1 relief innings.
Offensively, SIU hit .429 (6-for-14) in two-out situations.
Like McCulloch, Koski and Alvarez also had three hits.
Koski went 3-for-5 with three runs, while Alvarez finished at 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles. Koski, who hit safely in his first at-bat for the eighth time in 10 games, extended his hitting streak to 33 games. His streak now ranks as the third-longest in league history.
Also, Koski and Finigan teamed up to score six of SIU's 10 runs, as the Salukis outhit the Aces, 14-12. Not to mention, there were five errors between the two teams, including three from SIU.
SIU plays the winner of No. 2 Wichita State and No. 5 Indiana State tomorrow at 3 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Snyder, Adam (2-3)
L: Tuomi (5-3)
S: Rueger, Bryan (1)
Batting:
2B: Minor 1
HR: Knight 1
RBI: Minor 2 ; Lis 2 ; Knight 3 ; Ky. Smith 1 ; Barrett 1
SH: Knight 1 ; Ky. Smith 1 ; Barrett 1
SF: Ky. Smith 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Watts 2 ; Minor 1 ; Knight 1 ; Wahl 1 ; E. Jones 1 ; Barrett 3
SB: E. Jones 1
CS: Minor 1
HBP: Minor 1 ; E. Jones 1
PO: Lis 1
Batting:
2B: Finigan, P.J. 1 ; Emrick, Nathan 1 ; Brewer, Matt 1 ; Cademartori, Dean 1 ; McCulloch, Chris 1 ; Alvarez, Erik 2
RBI: Finigan, P.J. 1 ; Emrick, Nathan 2 ; Brewer, Matt 1 ; McCulloch, Chris 3 ; Alvarez, Erik 2
SH: Emrick, Nathan 1 ; Harrigan, Hunter 1
SF: Brewer, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Koski, Kevin 3 ; Finigan, P.J. 3 ; Cademartori, Dean 1 ; McCulloch, Chris 1 ; Harrigan, Hunter 2
SB: Brewer, Matt 1
HBP: Finigan, P.J. 1
