March 25, 2007
Box Score
CARBONDALE, Ill. -
The final game of the opening weekend of Missouri Valley Conference play for the Illinois State baseball team proved to be a disappointing one on Sunday, as the `Birds (9-12, 0-3 MVC) fell to the Southern Illinois Salukis (19-6, 3-0 MVC) by a score of 9-4 at Abe Martin Field. The win secured the series sweep for the Salukis and marked the first time the Redbirds had been swept since a three game defeat at Missouri State, May 12-14, 2006.
Sophomore Dan Sorce (1-2) suffered the loss in relief of ISU starter Mike Hlavacek. Sorce allowed two runs, one of which he walked in with the bases loaded, in just one third of an inning on the mound. SIU starter Shawn Joy (2-1) earned the win for the Salukis, after allowing just three runs on six hits in seven innings of work.
ISU head coach Jim Brownlee was disappointed with the way his team played over the weekend, but realizes that there is a lot of the season left in front of his team.
"Southern played really well this weekend and took advantage of all of our mistakes in the three games," said Brownlee. "As a coach you never like to get swept in any series, let alone a conference series. So, now we start the Valley on the bottom and have nowhere to go but up as the rest of the season progresses."
A two-run home run by Ryan Anetsberger, his second of the series and fourth of the season, over the left field wall in the top of the third inning gave the Redbirds an early 2-0 lead. However, the Salukis answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 2-2.
The Salukis took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, however, as they scored two runs on three hits to take a 4-2 advantage after six innings of play. The `Birds got one of those runs back in the top of the eighth inning to make the score 4-3, as Collin Salzenstein scored from second base on an Anetsberger RBI single to centerfield.
SIU broke the game open in the bottom half of the eighth inning, though, with five runs on just two hits to take a 9-3 advantage. With one out in the inning, Tyler Lairson reached on a throwing error by Salzenstein and five runs proceeded to come across the plate, all with one out.
The Redbirds battled in the ninth inning, as Kyle O'Brien scored on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Konsler to cut the lead to 9-4. However, that would be as close as ISU would get and SIU secured the series sweep. Anetsberger finished the day 4-for-4 with three RBI to pace the ISU offense. Mark Kelly continued his hot hitting in the series with two hits and three RBI, which put him at 9-for-13 in the series against ISU.
The Redbirds return to action at home on Wednesday, March 28, against Big Ten conference foe Iowa in a mid-week non-conference match-up. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Redbird Field.
