EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Down to its final out, the visiting Southern Illinois Salukis rallied for five runs in the top of the ninth inning and held on for a 10-6 victory over the University of Evansville baseball team at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
The Salukis struck first with single runs in the first and third innings to grab an early 2-0 lead. But, from there, UE freshman starter Kenton Deverman shut down the SIU offense, and his teammates gave him the lead with a three-run third inning.
Junior outfielder Harrison Taubert led off the third inning with a double off the wall in left-center field, and he eventually scored on an RBI groundout by freshman catcher Kaleb Wilkey. Senior designated hitter Kip Fougerousse then followed two batters later with a mammoth 462-foot two-run home run over the scoreboard in left-center field to give UE a 3-2 lead.
Deverman held SIU scoreless over the next three innings, and UE added three more runs in the sixth inning to build a 6-2 lead. Freshman second baseman Brodie Peart knocked an RBI double and Taubert added an RBI single in the frame.
SIU would finally get to Deverman in the seventh, as they scored three runs off of him and reliever Drew Fieger to get back within a run at 6-5. Sophomore reliever Max Hansmann (0-1) came on in the eighth to strike out the side, and he got the first two outs of the ninth inning around a pair of singles, but SIU third baseman Hesston Gray was able to tie the game with a seeing-eye single to left field. SIU outfielder Nathan Bandy then followed with a two-run single to left-center field to give the Salukis the lead for good.
Taubert went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI to lead UE, while Peart and Fougerousse added two hits each. Gray and shortstop Jake Allgeyer both had four-hit days for SIU.
With the victory, SIU improves to 18-9 overall and 4-1 in the MVC. Evansville, meanwhile, falls to 10-16 overall and 1-4 in the league. The series will conclude on Saturday at 1 p.m. with the rubber match. Graduate left-hander Donovan Schultz (0-1, 8.78 ERA) will get the start for UE on the mound. The game can be heard live on 107.1 FM-WJPS.
