Baseball

MVC Baseball Championship: Southern Illinois 12, Belmont 2 – 8 innings (Game 2)

Game 2: Southern Illinois 12, Belmont 2 – 8 innings

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – No. 6-seeded Southern Illinois’ starting pitcher Aidan Foeller punched out 10 and eclipsed 100 strikeouts for the season, helping carry the Salukis past the No. 7-seeded Belmont Bruins, 12-2, in eight innings in the nightcap on Tuesday evening at the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship.
 
CONFERENCE NOTES
  • The Salukis advance to face No. 1 Indiana State at 4 p.m. CT on Wednesday.
  • The Bruins will face No. 8-seed Missouri State in an elimination game on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. CT.
  • SIU won its opening round game at the tournament for the first time since the 2021 campaign.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Through the first four innings, Southern Illinois and Belmont left six and seven runners on base, respectively.
  • A lead-off homer by Belmont’s Jack Rando and another solo shot by Brodey Heaton in the top of the fifth inning broke open scoring for the Bruins, taking a 2-0 lead.
  • A one-out, RBI single by Cole Christman in the bottom half of the inning helped the Salukis jump on the board. With bases loaded, SIU knotted it up before an RBI double delivered by Trey Cutchen gave the Salukis the 3-2 advantage.
  • Belmont’s relief pitcher Cade Granzow drilled back-to-back Saluki batters in the home half of the seventh while a wild pitch moved the pair of runners into scoring position before Cutchen left the yard to add insurance runs for SIU.
  • Mathieu Vallee launched SIU’s second homer of the night, and 10th for the day at Charles H. Braun Stadium, to jump out to a 7-2 lead in the eighth. The Salukis scratched five more across to pull off the 12-2 run-rule with two outs in the bottom of the inning.