Boucher helps Salukis stay alive in MVC tournament

Charlesbourg Alouettes alum Pier-Olivier Boucher (Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Que.) was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI to help lead the Southern Illinois Salukis to an 8-2 win over Indiana State on Friday to stay alive in the MVC Tournament. Photo: Southern Illinois Athletics

May 27, 2022

By Will Becque

Southern Illinois University Athletics

The Southern Illinois University baseball team stayed alive in the MVC Tournament Friday with an 8-2 win over Indiana State at Hammons Field.

Only four teams remain in the double-elimination tournament, and SIU will take on the loser of Dallas Baptist/Evansville on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Southern scored at least one run in five of nine innings and all nine Saluki starters had at least one hit in the win. SIU's pitching duo of Noah Farmer and Trey McDaniel took care of the rest. The tandem held the Sycamores to just 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and Indiana State stranded a total of nine runners, which included multiple runners in the second, fourth and sixth innings.

"It was a pretty complete game," head coach Lance Rhodes said. "We had some good at-bats from the start. Even in the first inning we had some really hard hit balls. Noah did exactly what he's been doing all season long which is pounding his sinker. They couldn't get the ball off the ground and then Trey came in and did a great job. We live to see another day."

Farmer improved to 7-2 on the season after he went 5 2/3 innings and allowed just two earned runs on eight hits. The Metropolis, Ill., native worked his way out of traffic throughout the contest. The Sycamores put runners on in five of Farmer's six innings but could only come away with a pair of runs. After Indiana State loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, McDaniel came on in relief and threw one pitch to induce a pop up and get SIU out of the jam. The 2022 All-MVC Second Team selection cruised from there. He needed just 43 pitches to record 10 outs and faced just two over the minimum to lock down the victory.

"It felt like the first three games at our place earlier this season where we look at the scoreboard and they've got 10 hits and not a whole lot of runs," Rhodes said. "It was a great job by our guys to limit the damage and get outs and double plays when we needed."

Southern's offence got rolling in the third. Evan Martin led off with a double, Nick Hagedorn singled and J.T. Weber followed with a one-out double to plate Martin. Kaeber Rog drove a run in with a RBI-groundout. Pier-Olivier Boucher (Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Que.) notched his second hit, and his fourth in his last five at-bats, after he socked a two-out double to the wall in left to plate SIU's third run of the third inning.

Indiana State responded in the bottom-half of the frame to get to within one. The Sycamores benefitted from three walks and a two-out double brought in a pair of runs. Indiana State nearly tied the contest on that double but a good relay from Boucher to Rog to Nick Hagedorn nailed the tying run at the plate.

SIU's bats answered in the fourth. Grey Epps led off with a single and Hagedorn crushed his eighth home run of the season to extend Southern's lead back to three.

In the fifth, Southern tacked on another run. Kaeber Rog led off with a single, advanced to second on a walk and moved to third on a fielder's choice. Epps beat out what was initially called a double play, but was overturned after review, to bring home Rog and push SIU's lead to four, 6-2.

The Salukis added on in the sixth courtesy of J.T. Weber's 36th career home run- a solo shot to the opposite field, which moved Weber into a tie with Robert Jones for the most career home runs in school history. Weber added to SIU's lead in the eighth with a two-out, RBI-single.

Southern's offence, which had just five hits in its opening round loss to Missouri State on Wednesday, erupted for 15 hits on Friday. Four Salukis notched multi-hit games, led by three-hit games from Hagedorn and Weber. Hagedorn went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, a home run and two RBIs while Weber was a triple shy of the cycle and added two runs scored and three RBIs.

Southern will take on the loser of Dallas Baptist and Evansville in an elimination game at 11 a.m. Saturday.