SIUE Hitters Come To Life In Victory
Published on February 20 2023 1:12 pm
Last Updated on February 20 2023 1:12 pm
"After yesterday we really needed to zero-in our approach at the plate," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "The guys did a good job of making sure they were getting a good pitch to hit."
Brady Bunten's 31st career home run highlighted a four-run SIUE first inning. Bunten's homer drove home Brennan Orf and Josh Ohl, who had led off the inning with a single and double, respectively. Ole Arntson followed the home run with a double and then scored on a John Stallcup base hit to put SIUE up 4-0.
Bunten doubled in Ohl in the second inning and Kyle Ratliff drove home Bunten with a single through the left side to extend the Cougar lead to 6-0. Orf came home on a wild pitch in the third inning for a 7-0 lead and Ratliff led off the fourth inning with his first SIUE home run to extend the lead to 8-0.
The Cardinals got on the board in the fifth, bringing in a run on a double play ball against SIUE starter Teague Conrad. Conrad (1-0) worked five innings in his first start as a Cougar. He gave up the run on five hits. Conrad struck out three and walked two.
"Great job out of Teague Conrad today to get us through five innings with just the run," Lyons added.
Drew Mize's two-out single in the sixth made it 9-1 SIUE.
The Cardinals pulled four back in the bottom of the sixth against Cougar reliever Ian Benner, two of the runs were unearned. Benner, making his first career appearance on the mound, worked 2/3 of an inning and was hurt by an error and a pair of walks. He struck out two. Spencer Smith finished the sixth inning for the Cougars.
Jacob Kampf picked up his first save tossing three scoreless innings in relief for SIUE. He gave up two hits and struck out three.
"Jacob Kampf did a great job over the last three innings," Lyons said. "And we were able to make the plays behind him."
Bunten and Stallcup led SIUE with three hits apiece. Bunten finished with four RBIs and now has 102 for his career, to move into ninth place in career RBIs in SIUE's Division I history.
Ratliff had two hits and two RBIs. Orf and Ohl each finished with two hits and two runs scored.
"It wasn't just one guy," Lyons said. "It was nice to see the production up and down the lineup."
The Cougars will open the home season Tuesday with a 3 p.m. start against Illinois State at Simmons Baseball Complex.
"It's nice to get a midweek game in so early," Lyons said. "It will be more opportunities to see some guys pitch."
