THE RUNDOWN
The Patriots fell to the Salukis 7-5 in the elimination round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Hammons Field. With the loss, DBU (34-22-1) fails to reach the title game for the first time since 2015, and Southern Illinois (42-15) advances to face the loser between Missouri State and Evansville at 7:00 p.m.
A three-RBI single gave the Salukis the lead, and a two-run blast by Nick Hagedorn left the Pats with a 7-3 mountain to climb in the final inning. With its back against the wall, DBU came out of the gates hot in the ninth.
Cole Moore singled up the middle, and
Blayne Jones quickly followed him to board base runners on first and second.
Nate Rombach then electrified the moment with a single to right field that loaded the bases for
Luke Heefner. The base hits were enough to knock SIU reliever Matthew Steidl out of the game, who earned the win with five strikeouts in 4.2 innings of relief.
Trey McDaniel made his way to the mound in search of the final out. But Heefner didn't make it easy for the closer, as he hammered a two-run double down the right-field line to become the tying run at second base. But the late surge wasn't enough to overcome a slow start from the offense and the comeback bid was halted at 7-5.
Luke Eldred got the start for DBU and did a great job working through traffic in the early part of the game. The veteran righty stranded four Salukis in the first three frames before SIU took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Ryan Rodriguez.
The Patriots punched right back in the fourth inning.
Cole Moore reached on a single to right-center, and moments later,
Blayne Jones crushed a double into left field to set the table for
George Specht. Specht then continued his hot postseason by stroking a two-run double to left-center field. But the quick response by DBU was answered by an even faster punch from Southern Illinois, as a solo home run tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the frame.
The biggest moment before the final frame happened in the seventh inning. With two outs, J.T. Weber came up to the plate after a double from Jack Rigoni. Weber was intentionally walked, and
Brady Rose was left staring into the teeth of Player of the Year Kaeber Rog and the heart of the Salukis lineup. Rose battled Rog in a lengthy at-bat before he walked to load the bases. After a pitching change, Ryan Rodriguez dealt another blow with a bases-clearing single that miraculously stayed fair down the right-field line.
Miguel Santos gave DBU a great opportunity with a one-out RBI single in the eighth. But a fly out and a strikeout ended the attack, and a two-run blast in the bottom of the frame put SIU on top 7-3, heading into the ninth.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
-
Blayne Jones started his 231st career game, the most in DBU's Division I history.
- DBU is eliminated from the MVC Tournament and awaits the results of the NCAA selection show on Monday, May 30.
- The Pats end their time in the Missouri Valley with a dominate 26-9 record in the conference tournament.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4 -
George Specht totaled four hits and four RBI in the MVC Tournament.
5.0 -
Luke Eldred held the Salukis to two runs over 5.0 innings pitched.
2 -
Luke Heefner had the first two-double game of his young career.
