In what would have been the game-tying home run, pinch-hitter Noah Cook smacked a three-run shot out to left field to give SIU a chance. However, after an appeal by the Governors, Cook was called out at home after not touching home plate, and the Salukis were downed by Austin-Peay 14-13. The at-bat also marked Cook’s first Saluki and Division-1 at-bat and led to an ejection by head coach Lance Rhodes out of retaliation for the call.

The high-scoring game was highlighted by eight home runs between the two clubs and produced the most runs by the Salukis since last season’s May 10th thumping of sister school SIUE on May 10th. Nathan Bandy homered twice and Pier Olivier-Boucher, Ryan Rodriguez, and Cook each homered to aid the Saluki efforts. 

However, it also marked the most runs allowed by the Saluki pitching staff since last season’s home loss to Northwestern on March 27th. After an offensive explosion to go up by 6 to start, lefty Jordan Bloemer had a solid first two innings before running into a wall in the third, allowing two runs, and was replaced early by Sam Replogle. He didn’t fair any better, as Replogle gave up just a walk to load the bases, followed by a grand slam to quickly tie the game back up at 6-all.

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The affair went back and forth between the squads, with SIU earning the lead once more the following inning off Rodriguez’s homer, but pitching proceeded to be an issue. Vinni Massaglia allowed a homer on the first at-bat he faced, followed by another run five at-bats later.

After a brief lead once more in the fifth after Bandy’s rbi groundout, lightning stuck again for the Governors after they played small-ball off Matthew Steidl for a couple of at-bats, earning four runs in the process and a 12-9 lead. Bandy would smash his second homer of the day in the seventh to cut it to just a one-run deficit.

After allowing two more runs in the seventh and eighth, the dawgs found themselves down by three in the top of the ninth. A walk and a single set up a great opportunity for Bandy to hit his third of the day to tie it up, but popped up to second. The out set up perfectly for Noah Cook to make a good first impression with the team. Cook hit a 0-1 pitch deep off reliever Davin Pollard to tie things up before things got dicey for Cook.

The Governors called out that Cook had not touched home plate, and was then called out by the umpire, ultimately putting SIU down to their last out, and robbing them of at least the bottom half of the inning.

The Salukis will look to bounce back with another road series this upcoming weekend against Jacksonville State. Southern will look to avoid their worst start to a season since 2018, where they started 2-4. Game one will start on Friday with a first pitch scheduled for 3 pm.

Sports editor Joseph Bernard can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Jojobernard2001. 

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