CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois baseball team won a shootout against Murray State, 11-9, on Wednesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. SIU trailed 7-3 in the fourth inning and slowly chipped away until Logan Blackfan‘s three-run home run in the eighth inning gave the Salukis the win.
“It went as expected,” SIU head coach Ken Hendersonsaid. “Because we played yesterday and had two mid-week games, we knew it was going to be a bullpen game for us. We were going to have to score some runs and grind some stuff out. Outstanding job by our offense to continue to battle and grind and keep scoring runs.”
SIU (20-17) used five pitchers in the game, and Murray State (17-19) used six. After Murray scored seven runs early, Allen Montgomery and Trey McDaniel held the Racers down the rest of the way. McDaniel pitched two scoreless innings at the end of the game to earn the win without allowing a hit.
“Walks were the big deal,” Henderson said. “We walked seven people in a two-inning stretch (third and fourth innings) and gave up seven runs, but we didn’t walk anybody in the last five innings, and that was crucial. We threw up some zeros and gave our offense a chance.”
After Murray scored seven runs in the early innings on just four hits, SIU played uphill the rest of the way. Kenton Crawford got SIU within 7-5 with a two-run single in the fourth inning, but the Racers pushed it back to 8-5 in the fifth. Hunter Anderson hit a two-run homer in the bottom half of the fifth to pull SIU within 8-7; but again, Murray State extended the lead to 9-7 with a run in the sixth.
Blackfan hit an RBI single in the sixth to get SIU with 9-8. Montgomery pitched a scoreless seventh, and McDaniel pitched a scoreless eighth to set the stage for Blackfan’s go-ahead home run in the eighth inning.
“We felt like we were going to win the game the whole time,” Henderson said. “That’s a credit to our make-up and toughness. It was a good character win. You have to be tough enough to know you’re going to have to keep scoring. You can’t get demoralized when you give up a run or two. You have to keep believing, and we’re going to find a way to win this game. It’s a mental thing.”
Anderson hit two home runs in the game—his second two-homer game against Murray State in as many games this season.
“When he doesn’t try to hit the ball out of the ballpark, he can do that because he has great bat speed,” Henderson said. “They were really good swings. He stayed calm; he stayed quiet, and he used his hands. The result was awfully good, obviously.”
Blackfan finished 3-for-5 and was a triple shy of the cycle. He had five RBIs in the game, four of which came with two outs. SIU had nobody on with two outs in the eighth inning, but Addison Fugitt beat out and infield single and stole second. Connor Kopach drew a walk, and Blackfan followed with the go-ahead home run.
“Stay inside and play in the middle of the field,” Henderson said of Blackfan. “When he does that, he’s as good as anybody around. He has power to all fields. Great job by Addi with two strikes, and Connor draws the walk to get Logan up there, all with two outs.”
SIU improved to 16-4 against unranked opponents since March 5. The Salukis travel to No. 21 Tennessee Tech for a three-game series this weekend. The Golden Eagles lead the nation in almost every offensive category, including runs per game and home runs per game. TTU is riding an OVC-record 22-game winning streak into the weekend.
First pitch on Friday night is set for 6 p.m.
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