CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Southern Illinois twice could not hold onto the lead in an 11-7 loss to Illinois Tuesday evening at Illinois Field. That finished Illinois’ (27-13) four-game season series sweep of the Salukis (20-24). On a night with the wind blowing out steadilytowards left field, 11 of the game’s 18 runs were scored on home runs.

Austin Montgomery drove in four of SIU’s seven runs.

“We battled hard all night and gave ourselves a chance late in the game,” SIU Coach Ken Henderson said, “but we just didn’t execute a couple times.”

Illinois’ Thomas Lindauer broke a 7-7 tie with an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth inning. Lindauer then scored on Michael Hurwitz’ single to give the Illini a 9-7 advantage. After Justin Parr singled, Jordan Parr and Brandon Hohl hit consecutive doubles to tack on two more runs. Jordan Parr drove in seven of Illinois’ runs in the game.

SIU’s Matt Jones had tied the game at 7-7 in the top of the seventh with his third home run of the season, a line drive solo shot over the left field wall. It was the Salukis’ third home run of the game.

Matt Murphy took the loss for SIU. He allowed four runs in two and two-thirds of an inning. He had tossed two scoreless innings and retired six batters in a row before running into trouble in the eighth. With another midweek game looming on Wednesday, Southern stuck with Murphy for the five straight hits in the four-run eighth inning.

“Murphy’s thrown a lot lately, and he’s pitched well for us,” Henderson said. “He left some balls up in the zone, and they capitalized.”

Southern Illinois jumped on the board in the first inning when Austin Montgomery hit a two-out, two-run homer.

“He made a mistake and left it over the plate, and I got a piece of it,” Montgomery said. “It was a pretty good park for hitters today, and it was good to get a start like that.”

Following a dropped infield popup, Cody Daily followed with a two-run shot of his own to extend the lead to 4-0.

After the Illini tied the game with four runs in the bottom of the third, Montgomery gave SIU a 6-4 lead in the top of the fifth with a two-run triple off the wall in center field. Montgomery drove in four of SIU’s seven runs and finished a double short of the cycle.

Illinois took a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the fifth with Jordan Parr’s second three-run home run of the game. He had also tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the third inning with a three-run home run. It came one batter after his brother extended the inning and drove in a run by beating out a potential double play with the bases loaded.

SIU starter Brad Drust allowed a season-high seven runs off 10 hits in five innings of work and took a no-decision. Six of the runs against him were on Jordan Parr’s two three-run homers.

The loss for Southern Illinois breaks an eight-game nonconference winning streak. The Salukis will be back home on Wednesday to face Belmont at 3 p.m. at Abe Martin Field

BY JOHN D. HOMAN

Logan Media Services

EFFINGHAM – The John A. Logan College women’s golf team has an eight-stroke lead over Rend Lake after first-round play in the two-day Region 24 tournament event at Effingham Country Club.

The Vols posted a score of 369 compared to 377 for the Warriors. Further back in the pack are Lincoln and Kaskaskia colleges. Logan is seeking its second regional title in the last three seasons.

Top individual performer for the Vols was freshman Brittanie Garrison of Carmi with an 84 (43 on the front nine and 41 on the back). Freshman Molly Borowiak of Nashville had the second-best score for Logan at 89 (44, 45). Freshman Abby Miller of Anna-Jonesboro was third at 96 (50, 46). Sophomore Kelsey Cicardi of Pinckneyville was fourth at 100 (54, 46) and Dana Kaufmann of Carterville was fifth at 102 (51, 51). Kaufmann’s score was not counted. Only the top four scores are counted on each team.

“We played in the same kind of weather conditions today that we’ve dealt with all spring – cold, rainy and windy, which made for sloppy fairways,” said Vols head coach Bill Glenn. “That’s why I was proud of the way the girls kept things together today. It was a good effort.”

Glenn said he expects the scores to improve Monday in the second and final round of the tourney as the weather forecast is sunny and warm.

“I think we’re capable of shooting in the 340s or 350s, and if we can do that, we should have a pretty good chance at winning,” he said. “An eight-stroke lead is not a comfortable lead by any means, but it’s better than being down eight.”

MT. CARMEL, Ill. (April 28, 2013) – Jarret Bednar threw six scoreless innings for Rend Lake as the Warriors won 3-1 twice on Sunday at Wabash Valley and took first place in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference with only four games to go before postseason play.

Bednar (Decatur) improved to 6-1 as a starter for the Warriors this season. He gave up only three hits and had three strikeouts in the 3-1 nightcap win for RLC. The victory makes Rend Lake 16-5 in the league – the same as Wabash Valley. Since RLC took two out of a three-game series, the Warriors from The Lake move into the top GRAC spot.

Blake Deaton (Mt. Vernon) just seems to know how to score. Whether at the plate or on base, Deaton’s play against Wabash Valley came up clutch and helped RLC grab the #1 place in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference.

Justin Busekrus (O’Fallon) and Blake Deaton (Mt. Vernon) each had a RBI for RLC in the nightcap. Ty Broady (Greenville, Ky.) scored Rend Lake’s third run on Brandon Allen’s wild pitch in the top of the fourth. Wabash’s run came in the bottom of the seventh after Jeff Smith advanced to third on Brady Wright’s (Jonesboro) wild pitch and was then brought in on a double by Tim Barry. Wright picked up his 10th save of the season. Allen got the loss. RLC outhit Wabash 5-4 and Rend Lake had two errors to WVC’s zero.

There was more hitting in the first game, but there were also more innings. And there were more strikeouts and more runners left on base – RLC stranded six, WVC five. The outcome was still 3-1 Rend Lake in nine innings. The game winning run for Rend Lake came when Deaton led off in the top of the ninth with a single. Zack Jones (Mt. Vernon) sacrificed him over to second with a bunt and Deaton scored on an error by WVC first baseman Conor Dishman.

The Warriors from Rend Lake outhit WVC 9-4 and Wabash’s defense committed two errors this time, compared to RLC’s none. Deaton, Jones and Aaron Choate (Mt. Vernon, Ind.) all had doubles for RLC and Jones had Rend Lake’s lone RBI – a double in the top of the sixth to score Deaton.

Rend Lake’s mound man Nick Andros (Tunnel Hill) struck out 10 batters, and gave up four hits and one run in six innings. Logan Tabor (Marissa) threw two innings of relief and Wright got the save in the bottom of the ninth after getting Dishman to fly out and Rey Perez to hit into a double play.

RLC, now 33-14 overall this season, will play a nonconference game at Lindenwood University – Belleville on Monday before wrapping up the season with a three-game series against conference rival John A. Logan College. Their first game will be played at 3 p.m. Thursday, at JALC. The doubleheader will be played at noon on Saturday, May 4, at RLC. It will be the Warriors’ regular season closer and final home game. For all things athletic at The Lake, visit RLC online at www.rlc.edu/warriors.