This weekend, Saluki Baseball went down to Murray, KY for a three game series against the Racers of Murray State. This series with the Racers had big implications on the rest of the regular season as the winner of the set would take sole custody of second place in the Missouri Valley with only two weekends to go.
The Racers took the first two games of the series to push the Salukis down to third place.
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The Dawgs jumped out to an early lead in game one, with Jordan Bach leading off the game with a home run and Matt Schark and Gabe Petrucelli pushing one across each in the second, but that would be all the scoring SIU would have in the 8-3 loss.
Alec Nigut was the game one starter for the Dawgs, but he ended up being pulled after two innings of work, surrendering four runs and taking the loss. Dylan Petrey pitched the next 4 2/3 and Cole Koonce got the last four outs, each responsible for two Murray State runs.
For game two, Jackson Payne got the ball first for the Salukis. Payne went 5 1/3 with only two runs against him in a no-decision. Tanner Gerdes and Gavan Wernsing combined to pick up the next 2 2/3 innings. Sam Frizzi was able to get the Dawgs through the ninth before giving up a walk-off double in the 10th for the second straight loss for the Salukis for the weekend.
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John Lemm and Cecil Lofton provided the only offense for SIU. Lemm rounded the bases with a home run in the seventh and Lofton had an RBI triple in the eighth to tie the game.
Needing to avoid being swept, Al Holguin was on the bump for the Dawgs and delivered six scoreless, two-hit innings worthy of the win. Gerdes and Blaine Harpenau got the last six outs to escape Kentucky with a win.
Bach had another leadoff home run in game three and Petrucelli quickly followed that up with a three run blast later in the first to put SIU up four early. Lofton had a three run homer of his own in the seventh and Lemm drove in two with a home run and a walk in the 11-0 win.
As a result of their series with the Racers, the Salukis fell to 32-15 overall and 13-8 in the Missouri Valley, putting them in third place.
With two weekends to go in the regular season, The Dawgs look to hold on to their position towards the top of the Conference. Next weekend they will host Evansville (14-32, 8-13) and the following weekend, they will be at Valparaiso (8-34, 3-18).
Sports Reporter Nick Pfannkuche can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and X @dailyegyptian.
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