Cougars continue conference dominance |
Keli Keener |
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The baseball team remains on the winning path after another successful weekend. SIUE had home field advantage as it played host to Bellarmine College Friday and Saturday for a three-game stint with the Knights. Bellarmine struck first in game one Friday. The Knights scored one run in the top of the first inning. SIUE answered with one run in the third and one in the fifth before the Knights came back to tie the game 2-2 in the sixth. Sophomore Nick Seibert's only hit of the day proved to be the game winner for SIUE. His single in the bottom of the 14th inning put the Cougars on top 3-2 and extended their winning streak to 11 consecutive games. Both starting pitchers had strong outings. Junior Dave Crouthers threw 10 innings for SIUE, giving up four hits and striking out eight batters. Peter Kuhn pitched 11 innings for Bellarmine, giving up 12 hits and fanning seven batters. "I have gone that long before," Crouthers said, "but I was tired when I reached my pitch limit and I wanted to come out. We won, so I'm satisfied with that aspect, but I could have cut the walks down a bit. But overall, I'm happy because we got the win." "It's painful to watch," coach Gary Collins added. "It was like he (Kuhn) was throwing little frisbees in there. We had no idea what was coming." Senior Bret Giaudrone picked up the win, pitching a solid four innings in relief. Giaudrone, 7-1 on the season, gave up two hits while striking out six batters. Along with a strong performance defensively, Crouthers also finished Friday's game at 3-for-6 from the plate. His single to left field in the 13th inning gave him career hit No. 200, making him the ninth Cougar to record 200 or more hits. Behind solid pitching and an explosive offense, the Cougars completed the series sweep against Bellarmine and extended their winning streak to 13 games on Saturday. SIUE, now 27-15 overall and 13-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, scored a combined 25 runs on 30 hits in the doubleheader. Senior Josh Clark threw a one-hit complete game and posted his first shutout of the season as SIUE trounced Bellarmine 9-0 in game one. Clark improved his record to 3-0 on the season while striking out five batters. The Cougar bats struck early with four runs in the first inning. SIUE added three more runs in the second and two runs in the sixth inning. Junior Todd Haug finished game one 3-for-3 with four RBIs. Junior Chad Opel recorded two singles in four at-bats while scoring two runs. The Cougars' offense remained hot in game two as they defeated the Knights 16-2 behind senior starting pitcher Matt Wilkinson. Wilkinson gave up one run in the first inning but settled in after that, letting up five hits and waving four batters in seven innings. He improves his record to 5-0 on the season. The Cougars scored four runs in their half of the first inning to take the lead and keep it. SIUE added two runs in the second, one in the fifth, five in the sixth, three in the seventh and one more in the eighth to seal the deal. Opel compiled two runs and a solo home run in the sixth inning, finishing the day 7-for-10 at the plate. Sophomore Jason Kessler hit a three-run homer, his second of the year, in the sixth and went 3-for-6 with four RBIs. Senior Steve Berra and Dave Crouthers each went 3-for-4 with two doubles, three runs and two RBIs apiece. Withe the losses Bellarmine falls to 8-17 on the season and 4-11 in the GLVC. The Cougars return to action at home when they face the University of Southern Indiana at 1 p.m. Wednesday. | |