Tim Simay drove in three runs and the Southern Illinois bullpen delivered a strong performance as the Salukis defeated Seton Hall 5-3 on Friday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. The win ended a six-game losing streak for Southern Illinois and marked their first home victory of the season.
Seton Hall started quickly, scoring two runs in the first inning on a passed ball and an RBI groundout against Saluki starter Andrew Evans. The Pirates added another run in the third inning with Aidan Sengenberger’s second RBI of the game.
Seton Hall pitcher Steven Svenson kept Southern Illinois scoreless through 11 consecutive innings until Tim Simay put his team on the board with an RBI single in the third. Simay followed up with another run-scoring single in the fifth inning. Later that inning, he got caught in a rundown, allowing Julio Guerrero to tie the game at three by scoring on a late throw home.
Evans pitched six innings, giving up two earned runs on four hits while striking out six and walking four.
In the seventh inning, Jack MacIntosh entered from the bullpen with two outs and bases loaded. He struck out Sengenberger to end Seton Hall’s threat.
Simay and Guerrero combined again to give Southern Illinois its first lead when Simay hit a line drive single to left center. Cecil Lofton singled to move Simay to third base, and Kristian Sprawling brought him home with a fielder’s choice.
“We needed somebody to break the ice offensively,” Head Coach Lance Rhodes said. “No better guy than Tim to step up and do that.”
MacIntosh finished out the game for his first win of the season, pitching 2.1 no-hit innings and striking out three batters.
Stephen Curry took the loss for Seton Hall after allowing what became the winning run.
“It’s really good to get that win out of the way,” Tim Simay said. “Now we’re just gonna have to do it again tomorrow.”
Southern Illinois will try for its first series win of the season Saturday at 2 p.m.
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