Baseball

MVC Baseball Tournament: Indiana State 9, Southern Illinois 7

MVC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME 1 – No. 4 INDIANA STATE 9, No. 5 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 7

DALLAS, TEXAS – In game one of the MVC Baseball Championship, No. 4 Indiana State hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat No. 5 Southern Illinois, 9-7. The Sycamores will face the winner of the Missouri State/Evansville contest at 4PM Thursday, while the Salukis will take on the loser of the Bears/Aces game at 9AM Thursday.

After the Salukis (27-29) opened the game with two runs in the first, Clay Dungan cut their lead in half with a first-pitch solo shot in the home half of the first, marking just second home run of the season for the junior. The two teams would again trade runs in the third when Dane Giesler homered to right field to move into sole possession of fourth place in program history with his 33rd career home run.
 
It wasn't until the fourth inning that the Sycamores would tie the game when Means singled in Jarrod Watkins from second on ball up the middle. Roberto Enriquez would put the Sycamores ahead for the first time in the sixth with a two-run double to the gap in left-center to make it 5-3.
 
The Salukis drew a pair of walks to open the seventh before Connor Kopach lifted a three-run home run over the wall in left field to put SIU back in front 6-5.
 
Sophomore Max Wright smashed a two-out no-doubt home run off the scoreboard in right field to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
The Salukis countered with the MVC leader in saves in right-hander Ryan Netemeyer in the ninth inning. After striking out the first Sycamore he faced, Romero Harris lined a double into center to give the Sycamores a chance with a runner in scoring position. The base knock also extended Harris' hitting streak to 16 games and his reached base streak to 28 games. Jordan Schaffer would pinch run but he wouldn't need to do anything special as Jake Means sent a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left.
 
Means led the team with a three-hit day to go along with three RBI and a pair of runs scored. Dungan, Giesler, Watkins, Enriquez and Wright each tallied two hits. Enriquez and Wright also drove in two runs for the Trees.
 
Indiana State improved to 30-22 with the win, while Southern Illinois fell to 27-29 on the season.