May 17, 2008

Box Score

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University (32-21, 12-12) clinched the fifth-seed in the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with a 4-2 victory over Evansville (14-42, 4-20) earlier today in the regular-season finale at Abe Martin Field.

SIU, which swept UE for the first time under head coach Dan Callahan, will square off against fourth-seeded Northern Iowa in the first round of the conference tournament on Wednesday, May 21. First pitch is at 11 a.m., CST, from Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kan.

"It was nice for our seniors to finish strong in their final weekend at SIU," said Saluki head coach Dan Callahan. "I think we are playing well right now, and hopefully, we can head to Wichita and do some damage in the tournament next week."

Red-hot SIU storms into the postseason after winning four-straight and 11 of its last 14 games.

SIU broke a 2-2 tie when it loaded the bases to score two runs on three hits with one out in the bottom of the eighth.

Mark Kelly led off with a single to center and went to second on a bunt single by Aaron Roberts. Dean Cademartori moved both runners with a sacrifice bunt and Chris Crank was intentionally walked. Tyler Lairson then drove in Kelly for the go-ahead run on a single to left. Owen Mackedon came up next and hit a line drive, but Aces left fielder Nate Smith mis-judged the ball and Roberts scored to give SIU a 4-2 lead.

Righthander Adam Curynski set the tone for the Salukis early, tossing one-hit shutout baseball through his first six innings.

Curynski, pitching with a two-run lead, gave up a two-out double to T.J. Dailey in the top of the second. After that, he went on to retire 15 hitters in a row. Curynski, who finished with a career-high eight Ks, struck out at least one in five consecutive innings.

Curynski found himself in the most trouble in the seventh, where UE tied the game. Shawn Kuester sparked a late inning rally with a two-out double to left center and scored when Sean Loggins took Curynski deep over the center field wall to bring the game to a 2-2 deadlock.

Curynski plunked Dailey on the next play, but after that, he recovered to sit down the last seven UE hitters of the game.

Curynski (4-1), who gave up just three hits on the day, became the third Saluki pitcher to throw a complete game this year.

John Foley (5-5) took the fall for UE, which finished the year with a school record 42 losses. Foley worked 7.1 innings, allowing nine hits and four runs. He also struck out two and walked three.

Offensively, Roberts and Mackedon each led SIU with two hits. Roberts went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Mackedon finished at 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI. Mackedon also homered for the first time in his Saluki career.

Kuester, Loggins and Dailey had the Purple Aces quiet three hits.

SIU's seven seniors, including Cademartori, Crank, Adam Hills, Shawn Joy, Lairson, Mackedon and Ian Reinhart suited up for the last time at Abe Martin Field today. The group was honored in a special presentation prior to the game.