SIU baseball (25-20) got back on track Tuesday night after defeating the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles (15-29) by a 14-3 score at Itchy Jones Stadium. After dropping the final two games of their series against Illinois State, they had an offensive explosion against the USI pitching staff leading them to win the matchup via run-rule in only seven innings.

The Eagles actually got on the board first, tallying two hits and a walk against Saluki starting pitcher Tanner Lewis in the first to claim an early 1-0 lead. Lewis earned the win in the shortened game, although only tossing three innings. He scattered only three hits but didn’t have his best command, walking five batters while striking out five.

Southern responded quickly as Kaeber Rog came around to score on an error after his leadoff double. He was 3-for-4 on the day with three runs scored and an RBI from the leadoff spot. USI would take the lead again in the top of the second where Lewis walked three, one being with the bases loaded. Then the Dawgs would erupt for a seven-run frame in the bottom half of the inning that essentially put the game out of reach. 

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The Salukis had three different batters bring in three runs on the day: Ryan Rodriguez, Steven Loden, and Jack Rigoni. Loden hit a solo shot to knot the game at two, the first hit of his 3-for-4 game. Five singles were hit in the inning, and four of them plated runs. Rog recorded an RBI single, Rodriguez stroked one to right that scored two, and Bennett Eltoft roped one up the middle that scored another. 

They also received two walks and a hit-by-pitch before Loden came up for his second at-bat of the frame and singled in two more runs. It resulted in an 8-2 Saluki lead after two innings.

Zack Jensen would add two more for SIU on his two-run blast in the following inning. Eltoft matched his teammate as he also homered with a runner on, pushing the score to 12-2 through three. The Salukis would score two additional runs with an RBI groundout in the fifth and an RBI double from Rigoni in the seventh.

Sam Replogle allowed a homer to begin the fourth inning but after that, SIU pitching was nails as they didn’t allow a run for the remainder of the game. Replogle, Shane Wilhelm, Ben Riffe, and Jake Kuntzendorf combined for four innings, three hits, one run, and five strikeouts while pitching with their comfortable lead.

The Dawgs will be back on the road for an MVC matchup with the Valparaiso Beacons (16-19) this weekend. The first game of the series will take place on Friday at 3 pm as SIU looks to keep up with Indiana State and Missouri State who lead them in the conference standings.

Sports reporter Howard Woodard can be reached at [email protected].

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