CARBONDALE, Ill. – SIUE baseball won its ninth consecutive game Tuesday, picking up a 9-7 win at SIU Carbondale. The nine-game winning streak is tied with Georgia for the longest active streak in the country.
The win was the first for the Cougars at Carbondale since the 1987 season. SIUE swept the season series from the Salukis and improved to 31-21 overall.
The Cougars return to Simmons Baseball Complex to face UT Martin for their final Ohio Valley Conference series of the season beginning Thursday. SIUE starts the weekend two games up in the OVC and needs just a single win to capture the program's first OVC Championship.
Tuesday, the Salukis (21-29) scored twice in the first inning thanks to a hit and a sacrifice fly. Joshua Heyder led off the second inning with a long home run to left, his 12th of the year.
Jacob McKenzie connected for a two-run home run in the third to extend the SIUC lead to 4-1.
The Cougars scored four times to take the lead for good in the fourth inning. SIUE opened the inning with four consecutive singles. Ethan Willoughby and Mack Mitchell each drove in runs. Cooper Eggert walked to load the bases and Jose Fichera tied the game with a groundout. Mitchell came home on a double steal attempt when Fichera was caught between first and second base to put the Cougars up 5-4.
Dawson Hargrove (0-2) gave up five runs over three innings in the start for the Salukis. He struck out three.
SIUE scored twice more in the fifth inning. Chase Bloomer singled with one out and then scored on a double by Ryan Niedwiedz that missed a home run by inches in right field. Heyder singled to send Niedwiedz to third and Willoughby drove him home with a single to right to make it 7-4. A groundout from Daniel Gierer in the sixth made it 8-4.
Gabriel Nutter (4-0) worked three scoreless innings in relief to earn the win. He gave up a single hit and struck out two.
The Salukis picked up a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly, but the Cougars immediately pulled it back in the eighth when Fichera scored on a wild pitch.
The Salukis scored twice and left two runners on when Porter Conn McKenzie to ground into a fielder's choice to end the game. Conn picked up his second save of the year with a strikeout in two-thirds of an inning.
SIUE outhit SIUC 12-9. Heyder finished with three hits including the home run. Willoughby was 2-4 and drove home two. Niedzwiedz and Bloomer each finished with two hits.
