EVANSVILLE, Ind.—A five-run ninth-inning rally by the visiting Southern Illinois University baseball team spoiled a tremendous outing by University of Evansville senior pitcher John Foley on Thursday night and eliminated the Purple Aces from State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament contention, as the Salukis rallied for a 5-2 victory at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

 

Foley, making his final start as a Purple Ace at Braun Stadium, was magnificent, as he held Southern Illinois to just three hits through the first eight innings of play while facing just three men over the minimum as UE built a 2-0 lead for the senior. SIU lead-off man Chris Murphy would single to lead off the ninth inning to chase Foley from the contest, and that is when the Saluki uprising began. 

 

Newburgh, Indiana native Scott Elmendorf followed with his third hit of the night, a single through the right side of the UE infield to put two men on with no one out. UE closer Tom Heithoff (4-3) would get SIU catcher Mark Kelly to pop up a bunt for the first out of the inning, but a single by shortstop Michael Stalter would plate SIU’s first run of the frame, before an opposite-field double by first baseman Chris Serritella would tie the game at 2-2.

 

A walk would load the bases for SIU, and after a foul out to third base, SIU outfielder Jordan Sivertsen was able to single off of the leg of Heithoff on the infield to give the Salukis a 3-2 lead. A two-run single by third baseman Tony Lepore would then cap the SIU scoring at 5-2, before Saluki closer Bryant George tossed a perfect ninth inning to record his seventh save of the year.

 

Evansville jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on a lead-off double by senior outfielder Jim Viscomi and a sacrifice fly by sophomore outfielder Greg Wallace. The score would remain 1-0 in favor of UE until the seventh inning, when Viscomi plated senior catcher Andrew Gher from second base with a hot-shot smash off of the glove of Stalter at shortstop for an RBI single.

 

That would be all of the offense UE could muster against SIU senior RHP Adam Curynski (2-4) though, as he scattered two runs on nine hits in 8.0 innings of work. Viscomi and sophomore third baseman Cody Fick were the only Purple Aces to solve the tosses of the right-hander, as they had two hits each against Curynski. Elmendorf and Murphy accounted for five of SIU’s nine hits on the night.

 

With the victory, Southern Illinois clinches the final spot in next week’s State Farm MVC Tournament by improving to 21-26 overall and 9-9 in the MVC. UE, meanwhile, falls to 25-28 overall and 7-15 in the Valley and is eliminated from tournament contention. The two teams will continue the series on Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. A decision as to whether or not the two teams will play a doubleheader will be made Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. as thunderstorms are expected Friday night and Saturday in Evansville. Check www.gopurpleaces.com on Friday morning for more information.