CARBONDALE, Ill. – Dylan Givens, Trey McDaniel and Ryan Netemeyer combined for a shutout to lead the Southern Illinois baseball team to a 2-0 win over Southeast Missouri on Tuesday evening at Itchy Jones Stadium.
“We pitched extremely well, and we needed to for two reasons,” SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. “One, we’re coming off a weekend when we didn’t pitch well, so we had to get back on the bump and have a good game. Certainly, Dylan did that. The other reason we needed to have a good game on the mound is because runs were hard to come by for whatever reason.”
Dylan Givens pitched seven shutout innings for his second-straight start, running his scoreless innings streak to 14 innings. He allowed just two hits, struck out six and walked none. He was extremely efficient, needing just 77 pitches to complete seven shutout innings. SEMO advanced just one runner into scoring position against Givens.
“He pounds the zone with all his pitches,” Henderson said of Givens. “When he misses, he doesn’t miss by much, and then he has the ability to come back and locate. Seven innings and no walks—that’s the story, right there.”
Offensively, SIU (21-20) barreled up several balls early, but SEMO (20-21) made the plays to keep the game scoreless going into the fifth inning. With two outs in the fifth, Connor Kopach pounded a two-out single through the left side to score Nikola Vasic from second base and break the tie. SIU added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with an Austin Ulick RBI single.
SEMO’s biggest threat came in the eighth inning. With two outs in a 1-0 game, the Redhawks put two runners into scoring position with two outs. Trey McDaniel got a strikeout to end the inning unharmed, and Ryan Netemeyercollected his 35th career save with a perfect ninth. Netemeyer moved into a tie with Missouri State’s Bryan Young for the second-most career saves in Missouri Valley Conference history.
The Salukis went 6-for-6 stealing bases in the game.
“They were huge,” Henderson said of the stolen bases. “We had runners in scoring position six of our eight innings, and a lot of that was because of our speed. When they are picking over four or five times, you’re putting pressure on them and they’re starting to focus on other things. Without a doubt, our speed had something to do with that.”
SIU managed to beat a red-hot SEMO team that had won five-straight games and 15 of its last 21 games. The Salukis improved to 10-1 in mid-week games this year and 17-4 against unranked teams since March 5.
The Salukis shut out SEMO in both games against the Redhawks this season. In 18 innings against SEMO, Southern Illinois pitching allowed just three hits while striking out 24 and walking only one.
The game was the inaugural “Green Up Game.” Saluki Athletics partnered with Mid-America Transplant to raise awareness about organ, eye, and tissue donation. SIU and SEMO both wore special blue and green jerseys to bring awareness to the cause, and a transplant recipient threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
SIU heads down the stretch of the 2018 regular season with a weekend series at Evansville this weekend. There are four weekends left in the regular season before the MVC Tournament May 23-26 in Dallas, Texas.
“We pitched extremely well, and we needed to for two reasons,” SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. “One, we’re coming off a weekend when we didn’t pitch well, so we had to get back on the bump and have a good game. Certainly, Dylan did that. The other reason we needed to have a good game on the mound is because runs were hard to come by for whatever reason.”
Dylan Givens pitched seven shutout innings for his second-straight start, running his scoreless innings streak to 14 innings. He allowed just two hits, struck out six and walked none. He was extremely efficient, needing just 77 pitches to complete seven shutout innings. SEMO advanced just one runner into scoring position against Givens.
“He pounds the zone with all his pitches,” Henderson said of Givens. “When he misses, he doesn’t miss by much, and then he has the ability to come back and locate. Seven innings and no walks—that’s the story, right there.”
Offensively, SIU (21-20) barreled up several balls early, but SEMO (20-21) made the plays to keep the game scoreless going into the fifth inning. With two outs in the fifth, Connor Kopach pounded a two-out single through the left side to score Nikola Vasic from second base and break the tie. SIU added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with an Austin Ulick RBI single.
SEMO’s biggest threat came in the eighth inning. With two outs in a 1-0 game, the Redhawks put two runners into scoring position with two outs. Trey McDaniel got a strikeout to end the inning unharmed, and Ryan Netemeyercollected his 35th career save with a perfect ninth. Netemeyer moved into a tie with Missouri State’s Bryan Young for the second-most career saves in Missouri Valley Conference history.
The Salukis went 6-for-6 stealing bases in the game.
“They were huge,” Henderson said of the stolen bases. “We had runners in scoring position six of our eight innings, and a lot of that was because of our speed. When they are picking over four or five times, you’re putting pressure on them and they’re starting to focus on other things. Without a doubt, our speed had something to do with that.”
SIU managed to beat a red-hot SEMO team that had won five-straight games and 15 of its last 21 games. The Salukis improved to 10-1 in mid-week games this year and 17-4 against unranked teams since March 5.
The Salukis shut out SEMO in both games against the Redhawks this season. In 18 innings against SEMO, Southern Illinois pitching allowed just three hits while striking out 24 and walking only one.
The game was the inaugural “Green Up Game.” Saluki Athletics partnered with Mid-America Transplant to raise awareness about organ, eye, and tissue donation. SIU and SEMO both wore special blue and green jerseys to bring awareness to the cause, and a transplant recipient threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
SIU heads down the stretch of the 2018 regular season with a weekend series at Evansville this weekend. There are four weekends left in the regular season before the MVC Tournament May 23-26 in Dallas, Texas.
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.