SIU baseball associate head coach Ken Henderson summed up the Salukis’ latest loss with five words: ‘Bad baseball. Very

bad baseball.’

The Salukis managed two hits in the final four innings, and three total, in their 5-1 loss to Eastern Illinois Wednesday at Abe Martin Field. Henderson said the offense is the most frustrating thing, specifically the poor pitch selection by the hitters.

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‘I still think we’re going to be a good club, but we’re not playing well right now,’ Henderson said.

The Salukis (3-7) trailed 3-1 after seven innings, but allowed Eastern Illinois to load the bases for the fourth straight inning in the eighth. The fourth opportunity proved to be one too many, as Eastern Illinois shortstop Jordan Kreke’s hit through the middle off SIU reliever Kellen Candau with two outs gave the Panthers a 5-1 lead.

SIU junior shortstop Michael Stalter, who went 2-for-4 at the plate, led off the bottom half of the fourth with a double into the left-center field gap.

Stalter said his first two hits were a result of him working the Panthers’ pitchers deep into

the count.

‘I was just seeing a lot of pitches and found something that I can hit,’ he said.

Stalter was promptly moved to second on a ground out to second base by senior catcher Mark Kelly, and a high-bouncing ground out to the Panthers’ shortstop by first baseman Wade Dutton brought Stalter around to tie the game.

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Henderson said the problem for the Salukis was their inability to get leadoff hitters on base to try and recreate what they did in the fourth.

‘You can’t do a lot of small ball if you can’t get people on, and we did a great job that inning, that’s what you’re supposed to do,’ Henderson said.

The Panthers scored a run to break the 1-1 tie in the fifth inning and added another run in the seventh.