CARBONDALE, Ill. (3/23/22) – On a windy and rainy Wednesday at Itchy Jones Stadium, the Arkansas State baseball team had the tying run aboard in the ninth, but its rally attempt came up short in a tight 6-5 decision at Southern Illinois.
A-State (4-14) clawed back from an early 5-0 deficit to make it a one-run contest and had the tying run aboard with nobody out in the ninth, but the Salukis (16-5) staved off the rally by recording three consecutive putouts.
Daedrick Cail led the Red Wolves with a pair of hits from the leadoff spot, while Jaylon Deshazier scored twice. Brandon Hager and Jared Toler both homered, with Hager's coming in a pinch-hit situation.
Brandon Hudson (0-2) drew the start for A-State, pitching an inning before giving way to six bullpen arms. Austin Brock and Max Charlton each fired 1 2/3 shutout innings, with Brock recording a pair of strikeouts.
Jordan Gould (2-0) earned the win for SIU in an inning of relief of starter Jake Combs, who struck out six in three innings. Trey McDaniel earned his second save of the year, pitching the final two innings.
The Salukis took advantage of a pair of A-State errors in the bottom of the first, plating three unearned runs to lead 3-0. They added two more in the second on an RBI double by Kaeber Rog and a groundout by Zack Jensen to hold a commanding five-run advantage.
A-State then battled back in the fourth when Ben Klutts was plunked to lead off the frame, then advanced to third via a pair of wild pitches. Deshazier walked to put runners on the corners with nobody out for the pinch-hitter Hager, who sent a towering three-run home run over the left-field wall to make it 5-3.
SIU threatened in the bottom half of the fourth, but a pair of Brock strikeouts and an inning-ending punchout by Jake Algee stranded the bases full. Toler then pulled the Red Wolves to within one in the top of the fifth with a solo homer to dead centerfield. The Salukis tacked on another run in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-4.
The Red Wolves got a run back in the top of the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Wil French to cut it to 6-5, but stranded the tying and go-ahead runs at the corners. SIU moved a runner to third with one out, but Phillip Bryant left runners at the corners to give A-State a chance at a rally.
Cail worked the count full before slapping a leadoff single to represent the tying run in the ninth. However, A-State could not push him across, with the Salukis forcing a pair of flyouts and a groundout to end it.
NEXT UP
A-State returns to action Friday, traveling to Statesboro, Ga., for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Georgia Southern. First pitch at J.I. Clements Stadium is set for 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+, with the radio broadcast being carried on The Ticket Radio Network stations 95.3, 96.9, 104.1 and 970 AM.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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