Southern Illinois lost to Murray State after the Racers scored two runs in the ninth inning, winning Sunday’s game and taking two out of three in the series at Itchy Jones Stadium, according to an April 26 announcement.
The game saw both teams’ starting pitchers face early trouble. Murray State took a quick lead with an RBI fielder’s choice, but Cecil Lofton responded for Southern Illinois with a two-run single in the bottom of the first. Connor Chisolm helped put Murray ahead with three RBIs on two triples, giving his team a 5-2 advantage by the fourth inning. Kaleb Hall narrowed the gap for Southern Illinois with an RBI double after replacing Lofton due to injury.
Saluki reliever Charlie Miller delivered 4.1 scoreless innings and struck out four batters, keeping Murray off the scoreboard for four consecutive frames. Reece Oakley matched that effort for Murray State until he left in the eighth inning with runners on base. Racer closer Dylan Zentko entered needing one out but allowed Gabe Petrucelli’s two-run double that tied it up.
In the ninth inning, control issues from Southern’s bullpen led to bases loaded and eventually a passed ball and sacrifice fly gave Murray a 7-5 lead. Zentko then closed out SIU’s comeback attempt by retiring all three batters faced in the bottom half of the ninth. Jack MacIntosh took his sixth loss of the season as SIU dropped to fifth place in Missouri Valley Conference play with a record of 17-25 overall and 8-7 within conference games.
Itchy Jones Stadium features artificial turf and a state-of-the-art video board for Southern Illinois Salukis baseball program, according to the official website. The Salukis compete in NCAA Division I within the Missouri Valley Conference and host their home games at this facility in Carbondale, Illinois; they have made fourteen NCAA Tournament appearances according to their official website.
Richard ‘Itchy’ Jones led Southern Illinois baseball through ten NCAA Tournament appearances and three College World Series berths during his tenure according to university records. The program has five total College World Series appearances according to its official history, and retired Coach Jones’s uniform number as recognition of his contributions as reported by SIU Athletics.
The roster currently includes about thirty-nine student-athletes according to official sources, while also promoting community engagement through its role within university athletics as described by SIU Baseball.
Southern will travel next week for a midweek matchup against Lindenwood on Tuesday evening.
