Ball State University
Southern Illinois
Baseball Falls At Southern Illinois, 10-8
March 11, 2009 | Baseball
Junior left fielder Kory Benbow (Muncie, Ind./Cowan), the reigning Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week, continued his torrid stretch as he tallied four hits in the loss. Benbow tallied his fourth home run of the season as he drove in a season-high four runs. Junior catcher Zach Dygert (Angola, Ind./Angola) drove in three runs and reached base four times against SIU.
Southern Illinois opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning as it plated four runs against BSU starter Brenden Stines (Granger, Ind./Penn). The Salukis tallied three hits in the inning and took advantage of a big Cardinal error a SIU took a 4-0 lead.
The Cardinals answered right back in the top of the third inning against SIU starter Jimmy Cornell. Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker (Selma, Ind./Wapahani) started things off with a double and senior second baseman Nate Fields (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) walked to put two aboard. After a walk, Dygert drove in one run with a sacrifice fly and Benbow blasted a two-run home run to left field to pull BSU within one at 4-3.
Southern Illinois broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and took a 10-4 lead with a pair of runs in the sixth inning. The Cardinals started to make a comeback in the top of the seventh inning as Dygert got on with a two out walk. He was able to come home on a run-scoring double by Benbow to narrow the deficit to five runs.
Ball State made one final push in the top of the ninth inning Fields and sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) led off with back-to-back singles. Dygert followed with a RBI double to plate Fields while Benbow singled to right field to bring Vitek home and make it a 10-7 game. The Salukis were able to get a key defensive play as they induced a ground ball double play that scored Ball State's eighth run but squashed the Cardinals' momentum. Junior right fielder Ryan Chenoweth (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) gave BSU one final swing as he doubled to bring the game-tying run to the plate, but SIU recorded a big strikeout to end the game.
Stines (0-2) picked up the loss as he was charged with eight runs, only two earned, on seven hits in 3.2 innings. Cornell worked three innings in the no decision and was charged with three runs for the Salukis. Andrew Dunn (2-0) tallied the victory as he worked three innings in relief and limited BSU to just one run.
The Cardinals will open the home portion of the 2009 season this weekend when they host Chicago State in a four-game series. First pitch is set for Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Ball Diamond.
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