The Saluki baseball team had its sixth win from a freshman pitcher this season and have also had six pitchers earn their first Division I win this season.

SIU (8-3) has won seven of its last eight games after a 7-6 win against Belmont University (6-6) Wednesday.

“I’m very proud of our toughness,” Coach Ken Henderson said in a Saluki Athletics press release. “We’re learning how to win and learning how to battle through some adversity. The conditions were not great, but we battled through it and found a way to win again.”

Belmont jumped out to an early lead by scoring four runs in the first three innings. Freshman Connor McFadden (1-0) had his third start for the Salukis, and only had two earned runs in his first collegiate win.

The Salukis scored one run in the third and fourth innings. The fourth inning run came from an RBI single by freshman Will Farmer, and was the only earned run by Belmont’s pitching staff.

In the sixth inning, the Salukis teed off. Senior Cody Daily reached on an error to start the inning. SIU picked up four singles, a walk and a hit batter in the inning to score five runs and give the Salukis a 7-4 lead.

“We scored five runs in one inning, and it wasn’t like we were hitting balls off the wall,” Henderson said. “We just put the ball in play, and that’s when good things happen.”

McFadden gave up seven hits in five innings pitched, struck out five and is tied for the team lead with 12 strikeouts.

Freshman Austin McPheron relieved McFadden in the sixth and gave up one hit and no runs on 11 pitches.

The Bruins cut the lead to 7-6 after scoring one in the seventh and one in the eighth off of seniors Derek Fogel and Lee Weld.

Senior Tyler Dray was called on to close and recorded his third save of the season in three tries and the 12th save of his career.

Junior Parker Osborne finished with three hits and one RBI while Freshman Ryan Sabo earned his second start at second base. Sabo had two hits and two runs.

SIU plays at South Alabama University next for a three game series this weekend, and has four more games during spring break, including the first game at Itchy Jones Stadium against the University of Illinois March 14.

Aaron Graff can be contacted at [email protected], @Aarongraff_DE or 536-3311 ext. 269