Peters scores two, walks three times in Salukis' win
Okotoks Dawgs alum Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) walked three times and scored two runs to help the Southern Illinois Salukis to an 8-4 win over Northern Illinois on Sunday. Photo: Twitter
April 11, 2021
By John T. Lock
Southern Illinois Athletics
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Noah Farmer pitched five scoreless innings of relief out of the bullpen, and the SIU baseball team completed a 3-0 weekend with an 8-4 win over Northern Illinois on Sunday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium.
"It was a really good all-around day," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "We dominated the routine play defensively and made some really tough plays defensively as well. All of the infielders were really good today. Phil (Archer) was really good over there at first base picking balls left and right. He really helps out our infielders over there."
SIU (24-6) started the scoring with a two-run single by Ian Walters in the second inning, with Grey Epps scoring all the way from first on the single. NIU (5-21) answered back with a three-run third to take a 3-2 lead. The Salukis immediately answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Nick Neville started the rally with a one-out walk. Vinni Massaglia drove him in with a double, and Philip Archer gave SIU a 4-3 lead with a sacrifice fly.
Noah Farmer came out of the bullpen to start the fourth inning and was dominant for five scoreless innings to make sure NIU never threatened. Farmer, the Metropolis, Ill., native, allowed just three hits and struck out four, and he earned the win.
"The big key was Noah Farmer," Rhodes said. "They got some momentum there in the top of the third and were starting to swing the bats pretty good. On a day when the wind was blowing out like it was, for him to come in and really have that heavy sink on his fastball, they couldn't get the ball in the air. That's exactly what we needed on a day like today. He threw several zeros in a row and gave our offense a chance to tack on runs as the game went. Once he came in, it never really felt like they were going to do much damage because they couldn't get the ball in the air."
SIU's relentless offense added on from there. Massaglia hit a sac fly to score another run, and Archer hit an RBI single to push SIU's lead to 6-3. In the sixth inning, J.T. Weber stayed red hot with an RBI double. Nick Neville, who reached base in four of his five plate appearances on the day, hit an RBI single in the eighth.
Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) walked three times and scored two runs in SIU’s win.
SIU finished its fifth undefeated weekend of the season. The Salukis beat both Bellarmine and NIU on Saturday before completing the 3-0 weekend with today's win.
The Salukis have won four-straight games, and the offense has been unstoppable in the four wins. The Salukis scored 50 runs in the 4-0 week, which includes Tuesday's 15-0 win over Austin Peay. In the four-game winning streak, eight SIU players hit .300 or better: Brad Hudson went 9-for-15 with a homer, four runs scored, and five RBIs; Cody Cleveland was 7-for-13 with a double, two homers, and five RBIs; Philip Archer was 8-for-17 with three doubles, two homers, seven runs scored and 12 RBIs; J.T. Weber was 6-for-16 with two doubles, a homer, four runs scored and nine RBIs; Vinni Massaglia was 5-for-13 with two doubles, two homers, five RBIs and three runs scored; Tony Rask was 5-for-14 with a double; Ian Walters was 5-for-14 with two doubles, four runs, and five RBIs; Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) was 3-for-10 with two doubles, drew eight walks and scored eight runs.
"When you look at all the injuries we're battling through right now, it's not a one- or two- or three-man team. It's really been a collective group that has won 24 games," Rhodes said. "It's nice that you don't have to count on a couple hitters or a couple pitchers. We have a short roster, but everyone is pitching in and holding their own. That's the only way we're going to have sustained success."
UP NEXT: SIU continues MVC play with a four-game series at Bradley next weekend.
NOTES: SIU completed a stretch of 23 of its last 24 games at Itchy Jones Stadium. SIU will play 17 of its final 25 regular season games on the road ... SIU's 24 wins are sixth-most in the nation ... SIU is 17-6 at Itchy Jones Stadium this year and 22-6 at home under head coach Lance Rhodes ... SIU is 53-19 in its last 72 home games, dating back to 2018 ... Ian Walters (15 games), Nick Neville (14 games) extended their reached base streaks ... SIU has scored 8+ runs 20 times in 30 games this season ... SIU has won six-straight games over NIU and are 11-1 in its last 12 games against the Huskies, dating back to 2016.