April 30, 2022

By Wil Becque

Southern Illinois Athletics

CARBONDALE, lll. — The Southern Illinois University baseball team overcame a seven-run deficit with 10 unanswered runs to defeat the Valparaiso Beacons, 15-12 Saturday.

With the win, Southern clinches its fourth MVC series in as many tries. The seven-run deficit erased by the Salukis marks the largest comeback of the Lance Rhodes era. Southern also kept pace atop the Missouri Valley Conference with the victory.

After Valparaiso scored in each of the first four innings, which included three innings with three or more runs, to get out to an 11-4 lead, Southern put up six runs in the bottom of the fourth and added a four-spot in the sixth.

Trey McDaniel was dominant in relief to improve to 6-0 on the season. The Williamsville, Mo. native retired the first 10 batters that he faced and 12 of the first 13. McDaniel threw five innings and allowed just one earned run on three hits. He also struck out four and didn't issue a walk.

Valparaiso struck first after it used two hits and an error to push across three runs in the top of the first.

Southern answered back after it used three singles and a sacrifice fly by Zack Jensen to get a run back in the bottom of the first.

The Beacons pushed across three more runs in the top of the second to go ahead 6-1. The Salukis kept pace with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame. Pier-Olivier Boucher (Saint-Joseph-de-Bauce, Que.) led off with a single, Grey Epps walked and Nick Hagedornbrought a run in with a RBI-single. Jack Rigoni followed with a RBI-single of his own and J.T. Weber pushed across another run on a sacrifice fly.

Valpo used a one-out double and a two-out single to push its lead to 7-4. After Southern failed to score in the bottom of the frame, the Beacons used four walks, two hits and an error to put up a four-spot and extend their lead to 11-4.

The resilient Salukis weren't phased. Rigoni led off the fourth with a walk while Weber and Kaeber Rog followed with singles to load the bases. A RBI-ground out by Ryan Rodriguez brought in the first run of the inning and Jensen followed with a RBI-groundout of his own. Nathan Bandy and Boucher worked back-to-back two-out walks and Grey Epps made the Beacons pay with a three-run home run, his eighth of the season.

McDaniel entered the game in the fifth and stymied Valpo's bats for five innings. With the Beacons' bats finally silenced, Southern took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Rodriguez and Jensen led off with back-to-back walks and Bandy singled to load the bases. Boucher brought in the tying run with a groundout. Epps later gave SIU the lead with a RBI-single and Rigoni added a RBI-groundout.

In the eighth, Hagedorn came through with a RBI-single to score the final run for Southern. Valpo plated a run on a sacrifice fly in the ninth for the game's final run.

Eight different Salukis recorded a hit in the win. Epps went 3-for-4 with a walk, a home run, three runs scored and four RBIs. Bandy was 2-for-4 with three runs scored while Rog went 3-for-5 with a run scored. Rigoni (2-for-5) and Hagedorn (2-for-4, 2 RBI) also had multiple hits in the victory.

The Salukis will go for the sweep of the Beacons Sunday at 1 p.m.