April 16, 2021

By John T. Lock

Illinois State Athletics

PEORIA, Ill. - The SIU baseball team jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held on for a 5-4 win in the series opener at Bradley on Friday night at Dozer Park.

Nick Neville and Vinni Massaglia homered early, and Trey McDaniel earned a four-out save to push SIU to its 25th win of the season.

"It had that typical Friday night feel. Runs were going to be at a premium," SIU head coach Lance Rhodes said. "We got that early lead, but it never felt like the game was out of hand. It felt close even though it was 5-1. They kept chipping away, and give credit to their offense. We pieced it together. Nobody went long on the mound, but as a collective group, they made big quality pitches, and we made good defensive plays in crunch moments."

SIU (25-6, 5-4 MVC) got its bats rolling early. Nick Neville hit a two-run opposite field homer in the first inning to give SIU a 2-0 lead. Philip Archer added on with a two-out RBI single to push SIU's lead to 3-0. The Salukis chased Bradley starter Jed Moscot in the second inning, but Bradley (9-14, 3-5 MVC) stayed in the game with a pair of outstanding relief appearances. BU reliever Nick King entered into a bases-loaded situation and walked in an inherited runner, but otherwise only allowed a Vinni Massaglia home run. Then Troy Hickey pitched 3.1 scoreless innings for Bradley, allowing just one hit to keep Bradley close.

"If someone tells you you're going to score five runs on a Friday night, you'll take that," Rhodes said. "That's the thing about baseball: You have to be ready in the first inning and the last inning. You can win a game in the first inning, the second inning, or the ninth. You never know how the game will play out. Today, we won the game in first three innings on offense, and we won the game pitching and playing defense in the last six innings."

That Massaglia homer proved to be huge. It pushed SIU's lead to 5-0 in the third inning, and it seemed like the Salukis might run away with the game. But the Braves got a run back in the bottom of the third and then two more in the fifth to get within 5-3.

Bradley chipped away, but SIU pitchers made some big-time pitches to get out of jams and limit damage, stranding 12 Bradley baserunners on the night. Tanner Lewis got the start for SIU and pitched three innings and allowed just one run. Matthew Steidl came in for Lewis with two on and nobody out in the fourth inning and got out of that inning unscathed with two huge plays: Steidl struck out a hitter with a runner on third and one out, and Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) made a diving catch in shallow centre field with the bases loaded and two outs. Peters also had a double, a run and an RBI in the contest.

Bubba Hall relieved Steidl and retired the first five hitters he faced. After a pair of two-out walks, SIU went to closer Trey McDaniel with two on and two outs in the eighth inning. Bradley punched a single into right field to get within 5-4, but McDaniel got a pop out to preserve SIU's lead. Then, in the ninth, Bradley got a one-out single and a walk to put the go-ahead run on base, but McDaniel earned his sixth save in as many chances with a strikeout and a ground out.

"We settled in and threw the ball pretty well," Rhodes said. "Bubba was dynamite. All of them threw extremely well and shut it down. In big pressure moments, Trey captures the moment. It's a comfortable feeling knowing you have him at the back end."

SIU improved to 6-0 in true road games this year and has won seven-straight true road games dating back to last year, which is the second-longest active road winning streak in the nation.

UP NEXT: The teams will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday at Dozer Park. Noah Farmer and Brad Harrison will take the mound for SIU. The first game will be a seven-inning game, and the second game will be a nine-inning game.

NOTES: SIU is one of only 10 teams in the nation to have won 25 games already ... With two home runs today, SIU has hit 53 homers on the season, already the fifth-most in program history with 24 regular season games remaining ... Ian Walters (16 games) and Nick Neville (15 games) extended their reached base streaks ... Philip Archer extended his hitting streak to six games ... SIU is 6-0 in true road games and the only team in the nation who is undefeated on the road this season.