The Salukis posted a season-high eight errors and lost two of three games against Missouri State University during the weekend.

The SIU baseball team faced off in a three-game series that improved MSU’s record to 21-10 on the season and 6-3 in conference play, while the Salukis moved their seasonal record to 17-18 and 2-7 in the MVC.

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Senior pitcher Cody Forsythe started Friday and struck out five batters and allowed five runs in six innings pitched. MSU junior pitcher Nick Petree started the game and allowed three runs in seven innings pitched.

The two teams exchanged runs to finish the first inning tied at 1. MSU senior catcher Luke Voit scored for the Bears, and senior outfielder Rennie Troggio scored after a single by junior first baseman Ryan Casillas.

The Salukis grabbed the 2-1 lead after Troggio scored again in the fourth inning.

With the score 3-2 in SIU’s favor, the Bears scored six unanswered runs in the last three innings to beat the Salukis 7-3.

MSU junior pinch runner Trey Massenberg, sophomore infielder Eric Cheray, sophomore infielder Joey Hawkins and freshman outfielder Tate Matheny all scored the Bears’ runs in four-run seventh inning.

Despite Missouri State’s explosive run production, SIU baseball coach Ken Henderson said the Salukis were also offensively impressive.

“I thought we did a great job on offense,” he said. “That is one of the best pitchers in the country, but we scored enough runs to win that game. I thought we had good approaches and good at-bats.”

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The Salukis started junior pitcher Derek Fogel Saturday. Fogel allowed a season-high five runs and failed to strike out any of the MSU batters in just 1.1 innings. Matt Murphy replaced Fogel in the top of the second inning.

Murphy received the loss after he allowed three runs on three hits in 2.2 innings. MSU freshman pitcher Jonathan Harris started and won the game with four strikeouts, six earned runs and allowed one home run in the 14-6 win.

The Bears scored five runs to take a 5-3 leadin the second inning with the score 3-0 in SIU’s favor. The Salukis bounced back in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 5. SIU had Troggio and junior shortstop Ryan Rosthenhausler on base when senior outfielder Austin Montgomery hit a home run to right center field to score the three runs.

After the second inning, MSU was the aggressor for the rest of the game as the Bears outscored the Salukis 8-1. Missouri State put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth inning, when the Bears added four more runs by Cheray, freshman pinch hitter Conner Wilson, senior designated hitter Koby Peebles and Maddox to beat the Salukis 14-6.

After two straight losses, the Salukis bounced back Sunday with a 8-5 win. SIU starting sophomore pitcher Sam Coonrod earned the win after he struck out three batters and allowed two earned runs off of two hits in six innings.

Coonrod also battled an ongoing illness throughout the game. He said even though he wasn’t feeling well, it meant a lot that his team supported him.

“It gives me even more confidence,” he said. “It makes me feel good that my teammates picked me up after that first inning.”

The Salukis fell in the hole quickly after the Bears scored four runs in the first inning. Matheny was the first MSU player to score when Peebles hit a single through the right side. In the next at-bat, Maddox singled to right field and allowed senior infielder Travis McComack to score the inning’s second run. Peebles scored the final run of the inning when Hawkins hit a groundout to Rosthenhausler to lead 4-0.

Coonrod said he didn’t want to change his pitching style because it was working despite giving up four runs.

“They got a couple off the end of the bat and some off the handle,” he said. “I didn’t want to change what I was doing for the rest of the game.”

After surrendering four runs in the first, the Salukis outscored the Bears 8-1 in the last eight innings.

Junior infielder Cody Daily started the SIU run with a groundout to bring home Montgomery. Casillas then scored when MSU freshman pitcher Andy Cheray balked Casillas while pitching to senior outfielder Wes Neece.

The Salukis scored six runs from the fourth to sixth innings with RBIs coming from Casillas, Daily, junior designated hitter Luke Mottashed and Jones.

According to Mottashed, Henderson got the team going before the game, and he said it contributed toward the Sunday win.

“He talked to us before the game and talked about how we have to come together more, and we can’t let adversity get to us, and I thought we did a good job of that today,” Mottashed said.

With the score at 8-5 in the top of the ninth inning, junior pitcher Todd Eaton faced four batters and grabbed his fifth save of the year.

Henderson said he was especially pleased with how Coonrod pitched, especially because he pitched through a sickness.

“He is extremely sick,” he said. “We didn’t know if he was going to pitch before the game. As soon as we took him out of the game, he was in the club house throwing up, so that just shows the kind of effort he gave us today,” he said.

The Salukis’ next game is against the University of Tennessee-Martin at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Abe Martin Field in Carbondale.