Boucher homers, knocks in three to lead Salukis to win
Charlesbourg Alouettes alum Pier-Olivier Boucher (Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Que.) had a home run and drove in three runs for the Southern Illinois Salukis to lead them to a 9-6 win in Game 1 of their doubleheader against Little Rock on Saturday. Photo: Southern Illinois Athletics
March 5, 2022
By Will Becque
Southern Illinois Athletics
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The SIU baseball team won both ends of a doubleheader against Little Rock Saturday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field.
The Salukis won the first game 9-6 and the second game 5-2. SIU improved to 9-2 on the season and the Salukis have won nine of their last 10 games.
Game 1 - SIU 9, Little Rock 6
The Salukis pounded out a season-high 15 hits, drew a season-best 12 walks and scored runs in five of nine innings to down the Trojans, 9-6.
Eight different Salukis recorded a hit in the win, which included a career-high tying four hits from J.T. Weber. The Saluki defense also turned four double plays while Tanner Lewis and Trey McDaniel combined to allow just two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of relief.
Southern got out to an early lead and held on late. The Salukis scored the game's first two runs before the Trojans rallied to take a 4-3 lead after four innings. Southern was undeterred as it plated a pair of runs in the sixth and eighth innings to build its lead back to 7-4. Little Rock would not go away quietly, as it used a pair of solo home runs to get back to within one, 7-6 after eight innings. Southern tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth to give Trey McDaniel all the runs he needed to lock down the win.
Jack Rigoni led off the first inning with a double and came around to score on Weber's first single of the afternoon. Weber eventually came around to score on a RBI ground out by Zack Jensen.
Little Rock got a run back in the second, using a pair of singles to cut SIU's lead in half.
In the fourth, Kaeber Rog drove in Nate Bandy with a single to push Southern's lead back to two. The Trojans answered with a three-spot in the bottom half of the frame to take the lead and chase SIU starting pitcher Noah Farmer after 3 1/3 innings.
The Salukis retook the lead for good in the sixth inning on a RBI single by Pier-Olivier Boucher (Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Que.) and a bases loaded walk from Cody Cleveland. Southern added on two more runs in the eighth after Weber doubled and Boucher brought him into score with his third home run of the season. After Little Rock used back-to-back solo shots to trim its deficit back to one in the home half of the eighth, SIU answered with a solo home run from Kaeber Rog and another bases loaded walk to close out the scoring.
Weber was 4-for-5 with three runs scored, a double and an RBI. Boucher was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBIs.
Lewis got the win in relief, as he threw 3 2/3 innings, allowed just one earned run on four hits while striking out two. McDaniel earned his second save of the season after he allowed just one earned run on two hits in his two innings of work.
Game 2 - SIU 5, Little Rock 2
The Salukis used a four-spot in the fourth inning, coupled with stellar pitching, to take game two of Saturday's doubleheader and clinch the series win.
After both starting pitchers hung zeros through the first three innings of game two, Southern jumped on Little Rock starting pitcher Erik McKnight in the fourth. Evan Martin plated a run with a RBI ground out and J.D. Ortiz followed with a three-run home run, his first as a Saluki.
Little Rock used a pair of singles to get a run back in the bottom of the fifth but SIU countered with a run of its own in the top of the seventh thanks to an RBI-single from Kaeber Rog. In doing so, Rog extended his season-long hit streak to 11 games.
Southern's pitching was the difference in the nightcap. While SIU gave up 10 hits, only two of those went for extra bases and both were doubles. Jordan Bloemer got the start and didn't allow a run in his 2 1/3 innings of work. Mike Hansell came on in relief and allowed just one earned run on two hits in 2 2/3 innings to improve to 2-0 on the season. Matthew Steidl picked up his first save of the season after he allowed just one earned run on three hits over his four innings of work.
Grey Epps went 2-for-3 with a run scored in the win to lead the Salukis at the dish.
Up Next
The Salukis host SIUE on Tuesday, March 8 at 3 p.m. inside Itchy Jones Stadium.