SIU baseball traveled to Cape Girardeau Tuesday evening to take on rival Southeast Missouri State Redhawks and looked to rebound from the sweep suffered over the weekend.

Sophomore starting pitcher Brad Harrison (3-0) put on another clinic and threw eight scoreless innings for the Salukis. Named the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday, Harrison gave up one hit, no walks and struck out a career-high 13 batters.

The Redhawks (3-10) could not overcome SIU’s dominant pitching and fell 5-0.

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As usual, the Salukis struck first in the top of the opening inning as junior center fielder Nikola Vasic reached on a throwing error and advanced to second. Sophomore left fielder Addison Fugitt followed suit with a single.

In an attempt to make it home, Vasic was thrown out and Fugitt advanced to second on the throw.

Then, SIU scored its first run with a triple by senior shortstop Connor Kopach, who batted third in the lineup rather than the leadoff spot. Senior first baseman Logan Blackfan — who finished 3-4 with one RBI and one run –  followed with a single to right field that brought Kopach around to score.

Blackfan proceeded to second on a single and followed with a steal of third base. Then, sophomore right fielder Jared Kengott drove Blackfan home on a sacrifice fly.

Vasic kept the momentum going for the Salukis in the second with double and continued to third on an error. Fugitt followed with a walk on a wild pitch that scored Vasic and put Southern up 4-0.

After five scoreless innings, Kengott got things going for the Salukis again in the eighth with a double down the right-field line. On back-to-back wild pitches, Kengott was able to make it home and push the lead to 5-0.

Freshman pitcher Trey McDaniel came in for SIU in the ninth and shut down the Redhawks with two strikeouts that sealed the 5-0 victory.

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SIU (4-8) will travel to Murray, Kentucky tomorrow to take on the Murray State Racers. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sophomore pitcher Dylan Givens will get the start for the Salukis.

Sports reporter Dillon Gilliland can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @DillonGilliland.

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