Travis Akin and Ryan Keith

SIUC sophomore second baseman Steve Ruggeri spent most of the Saturday trying to recover from the flu bug.

But whatever ailments he had Saturday did not seem to bother him much on Sunday.

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The Salukis earned their fourth-straight victory over the Creighton University Bluejays thanks to some timely hitting and solid base running from Ruggeri.

Ruggeri smacked a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth and added a double and a run scored on a sacrifice fly in the seventh for a 4-3 win over the Bluejays in the first game Sunday.

Actually, I was looking for that pitch, Ruggeri said. They threw me a lot of fastballs today, and [Creighton hurler Brian Matzenbacher] was having trouble working down.

I thought if I was going to get a pitch to hit, it was this one right here because it was 2-1, and he didn’t want to get me down 3-1. It was a belt-high fastball, and I just went with it and hit it over the fence.

The matchup between Saluki junior starter Jason Frasor and Creighton’s Matzenbacher was as good as advertised. Frasor threw a dominating five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out seven.

Matzenbacher was just as dominating until the fifth. The junior from Marissa held the Salukis to just one hit through four innings before giving up an infield hit to sophomore leftfielder Dave Pohlman to open the fifth. After a sacrifice bunt by senior Cory Schrank, junior Jon Winter walked to set up Ruggeri’s shot into the trees in center field for a 3-0 Saluki lead.

Sophomore reliever Jim Pecoraro tossed a scoreless sixth before running into trouble in the seventh. A double and a passed ball on a strike out set up a game-tying three-run blast by two-time All Conference first baseman Kevin Frederick.

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But Ruggeri and the Salukis came up big in the bottom of the seventh. Ruggeri opened the inning with a hustling double that dropped in centerfield. A sacrifice bunt by sophomore Marty Worsley moved Ruggeri to third, and senior Matt Dettman brought Ruggeri home on a deep sacrifice fly to right field.

I was kind of slow out of the box, but then I saw maybe it had a chance because I saw the centerfielder didn’t get a good break on the ball, Ruggeri said. So I starting kicking it into high gear, and luckily, I got to second base and the rest is history.

In the second game of the Sunday doubleheader, Ruggeri led things off by capitalizing on being hit by a pitch. He advanced to second on a bunt single by junior outfielder Joe Schley and then moved to third on a double steal, setting up a two-run first inning for the Salukis.

The Salukis went on to win game two of the doubleheader 8-3.

The Salukis also had solid pitching from sophomore Jay Schwerman, who pitched seven innings and only gave up three runs. Junior pitcher Adam Biggs came in and threw two scoreless innings to get his first save of the season.

Head coach Dan Callahan was pleased to get a solid effort from the fourth man in the rotation.

When you get into game four, a lot of times you read the sports pages and see some of the Sunday scores in Monday’s sports pages and some of them are outrageous, Callahan said. You see scores in the teens and scores in the twenties. A lot of times when you got your No. 4 starter going on a conference weekend, that’s what you’re going see.

The win was the ninth-straight victory over the Bluejays. The Salukis are now 9-12 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

Sunday’s win followed up on an impressive offensive showing by the Salukis in a doubleheader sweep of Creighton Saturday. The Salukis took advantage of gusting winds by knocking eight home runs on the day, including three from senior first baseman Joel Peters and two each from junior centerfielder Schley and senior rightfielder Carl Kochan, in beating the Bluejays 9-5 and 11-9.

The Salukis opened the day with a four-run win over the Bluejays. SIUC overcame a 4-1 deficit by scoring eight runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings for the win. Schley led the Salukis at the plate by going 4-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs. Senior designated hitter Brad Benson went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

Senior Dave Piazza shook off a shaky start for the win to improve to 4-1 on the year. Piazza allowed five earned runs and struck out nine in seven innings of work, and Jim Pecoraro shut out the Bluejays in two innings.

SIUC added to its win total with a two-run victory in the nightcap Saturday. The Salukis fell behind the Bluejays 7-6 through six innings but SIUC plated four in the seventh and added a run in the eighth for the win. Peters’ 3-for-3 performance at the plate and two homers keyed the Saluki attack.

Senior Chris Kulig earned his first win of the year in relief of senior starter Chris Schullian. Kulig gave up three earned runs and struck out one in 2 1/3 innings. Schullian gave up four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings, while Pecoraro gave up one run in the final two innings.

Callahan was impressed with how his team was able to start off the Missouri Valley Conference season on a strong note.

Four games in this conference, they’re all dog eat dog, Callahan said. It is tough to win four conferences games in a weekend. That is why this is so satisfying.

The Salukis battle in-state rival University of Illinois 2 p.m. Wednesday at Abe Martin Field.