By John Lock siusalukis.com
OXFORD, Miss. – The Southern Illinois University baseball team dropped a 6-0 decision to Jacksonville State on Sunday afternoon at Choccolocco Park. The Gamecocks swept the season-opening three-game series.
Jacksonville State took an early lead with a solo home run in the second inning, and the Gamecocks added another solo shot in the fourth. A two-out error added another JSU run in the fifth, but SIU starter Mason Hiser, who was making his first Division I start after transferring from Barton College, limited damage in his five innings of work to keep the Salukis close.
“One of the home runs was a really good pitch,” SIU head coach Ken Henderson said. “That’s a really good lineup. Give them credit; they can really swing it. Mason did a good job and gave us a chance.”
Freshman Noah Farmer from Massac County works 2/3 innings out of the bullpen for the Salukis in yesterday’s loss to Jacksonville State.
Southern’s offense started the day with a leadoff double by Connor Kopach, but that was Southern’s only hit against JSU starter Colton Pate, who went five innings. The Salukis (0-3) limited the damage in several potential big innings — JSU (3-0) pounded out 12 hits in its eight times at bat — but the Gamecocks kept expanding the lead with single run-innings in the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth. They scored two in the seventh to set the final score.
“There will be a lot teams that will struggle to get through (JSU’s) lineup,” Henderson said. “You’re going to have to match them. We couldn’t do that today. They kept expanding the lead. It wasn’t out of reach, but all of the sudden we’re down 6-0 late in the game.”
Closer Ryan Netemeyer, a preseason Stopper of the Year candidate, pitched the final four outs and didn’t allow a hit. He was the only one of seven SIU relievers this weekend to not allow a run.
On the weekend, Logan Blackfan led the offense, going 6-for-13 (.462) with 3 home runs and 6 RBIs. He slugged 1.154. Connor Kopach bounced back from an 1-for-5 Friday and went 4-for-8 over the final two games. Newcomers J.T. Weber (freshman) and Alex Lyon (Volunteer State transfer) also had good weekends. Weber went 3-for-9 with a double and a home run, and Lyon went 3-for-10 with 2 doubles. The Salukis also flashed their great speed, going 8-for-10 stealing bases on the weekend.
“We did a lot of positive things,” Henderson said. “Nobody is happy about being 0-3, but we will be a good club. I have no doubt in my mind. We have a lot of new guys. We had to get down here, get going, and see what we have to work on. We will clean that up, and we’ll be a good club.”
The series is juxtaposed against last year’s opening sweep at Stetson. While Southern went 24-30 the rest of the 2017, the Hatters ended up finishing second in the A-SUN.
“It’s one weekend. We started 3-0 last year, and a few weeks later nobody remembered,” Henderson said. “We just have to get better every day. We will, and this will be a good year.”
The Salukis are back in action Tuesday at Austin Peay. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Box Score
http://siusalukis.com/boxscore.aspx?path=baseball&id=8048
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