The USI baseball team hosted their regular season home opener after a series of home cancellations and delays due to inclement weather and cold temperatures. Leading up to the game, USI had recently split a Sunday double-header at the University of Evansville with scores of lopsided scores of 9-1 in favor of USI at noon and a 0-13 loss at 3 p.m. I would throw out the second score due to a quick doubleheader, so in my book, USI owns the Tri-State baseball scene.
Biases aside, USI came into the matchup against Saint Louis University with a promising start of 4-2 following three wins against Alabama State and the aforementioned win against Evansville. USI’s Khi Holiday, senior outfielder, entered the game looking to replicate his stellar performances in the previous two games, which saw him finish with 8 runs batted in (RBIs) in the previous two games.
USI’s lineup featured an outfield of Holiday at center field, BJ Banyon, senior, at left field and Patrick McLellan, junior, at right field. In the infield was Kannon Coakley, junior at first base, Anthony Umbach, sophomore, at second, Clayton Slack, junior, at shortstop and Parker Martin, sophomore, anchoring at third base. At designated hitter, Cameron Boyd, sophomore outfielder, who is a power hitter looking to improve off a strong freshman season last year, where he hit three homers, brought in 15 RBIs and hit at a .230 average. On the mound, Hirojuki Yamada, senior pitcher and behind the plate, his catcher, Micajah Wall, junior.
To begin the game, Yamada had a fine opening inning, despite walking two batters. He was ultimately able to get out of the inning, following a strikeout on the third batter, his second of the season.
In the bottom of the first, the offense got off to a hot start. Kyi Holiday grounded out, but Banyon hit a single up the middle and then Macallan hit a single to left. Then Coakley hit a double to left, which allowed Banyon to easily score. Parker Martin, the five hitter, laid down a sacrifice bunt, which allowed Macallan to score. Then Boyd came up to bat and hit an RBI triple, which brought in a third run. The Eagles smelled blood in the water. Following this triple, SLU’s starter, Stephen Hernandez, sophomore, threw a wild ball four pitch to Clayton Slack that allowed Boyd to steal home, leaving the score at 4-0 with two outs. This forced Saint Louis to make a pitching change in the first inning, which was a sign of things to come.
(Will Kessinger)
Unfortunately, the run ended there as Slack got caught in a rundown, after an attempted pick-off by Saint Louis’ relief pitcher.
In the second inning, Yamada struck out the opening batter, but gave up a homer immediately after. He proceeded to strike out the third batter, but once again gave up a homer to the next one. It was truly a bizarre sequence. Fortunately, he drew a fly out to CF, which Holiday was able to catch. Inning over.
After taking out the starting pitcher, Saint Louis needed some traction if they wanted a chance to stay in the game. SLU’s relief pitcher began to settle in, despite walking Anthony Umbach, who proceeded to get thrown out trying to steal. The nine hitter, Micajah Wall struck out after and Khi Holiday flew out to RF. Perhaps the bats were starting to cool off.
Yamada entered the third inning for some redemption, after giving up two homers in the previous one. And he did deliver, as he was able to strike out the opening batter and forced a double play ball, after walking the second batter.
The bottom of the third inning began inconspicuously, as Banyon struck out and McLellan flew out to Center field. However, Coakley flew out to right field, but the right fielder dropped the ball. Then, Martin walked and Boyd hit a single to right field, which allowed Coakley to score from second, Boyd’s second RBI of the inning. The next hitter, Slack, grounded out to second base, ending the inning growing the lead by three.
By the fourth inning, Yamada had gotten comfortable and didn’t give up a hit in the fourth. Yamada ended the inning having thrown 66 pitches total, a solid pace.
In the bottom of the fourth, SLU once again made a pitching change, which ultimately worked as USI was held to one hit and one batter left on, following Khi Holiday hitting into a double play.
In the top of the fifth inning USI made a surprising pitching change, bringing in Camden Dimidjian, graduate to see out the fifth inning. Yamada had pitched well, throwing four innings, only allowing two hits (both homers) and four strikeouts.
Dimidjian got the first batter to fly out to 2B, but walked and hit the next two batters, which prompted Eagles manager Chris Martinez to make another change. In came Sage Stout, freshman reliever, who got the next batter to ground out on a fielder’s choice, which allowed a runner to advance to third. However, Wall was able to throw out a runner attempting to steal, to make the third out.
The bottom of the fifth inning saw a return to hot bats for USI. Banyon hit a single to left. Coakley singled to centerfield, Martin singled out CF, allowing Banyon to score, growing the lead to 6-2. Then Boyd grounded out, but Coakley was able to score. Then the next batter, Clayton Slack hit a screamer to left field, which allowed him to reach third. The score now sat at 8-2. SLU went to the bullpen once again and forced a groundout to end the inning.
The sixth inning went almost according to plan, as the first batter grounded out and Patrick McCellan made an excellent catch in right field. However, the third batter walked, but the third out soon came, after Slack caught an infield fly.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Eagles were playing with confidence. The nine hitter, Wall, hit a single to right. Holiday was able to reach first base on a bunt attempt after the catcher overthrew the ball to second base, which allowed Wall to advance to Third. Then Holiday stole second and Banyon hit a single up the middle to score two runs. The score reached 10-2, with no outs yet. Banyon then reached third base after a sacrifice fly-out. Then the SLU’s relief pitcher threw a wild pitch, which allowed Banyon to score with ease. The floodgates were officially opened. The inning ended after Boyd grounded into a double play.
The next few innings went fine for USI, as the new pitcher, Abdriel Figueroa, sophomore allowed one run in the seventh, but was able to get out of the inning, despite giving up a triple to right field. Unfortunately, USI was not able to provide additional run support in the seventh, but USI was suffering from an embarrassment of riches when it came to runs.
In the eighth inning, USI went to a set up reliever, Marshall Loch, freshman pitcher, who threw three crucial strikeouts, after walking the first batter.
The USI bats warmed back up in the eight, as Coakley and Martin were able to hit singles, after McLellan flew out for the first out of the inning. However, Boyd was able to reach first second after a throwing error on a double-play ball. However, Slack struck out to end the inning, leaving two runners on base.
In the ninth, Ian Anderson, senior pitcher, got the call to close out the game. His performance began shakily after he hit the opening batter, who reached on a wild pitch on the next one, but ultimately Anderson got a first out via strikeout. Then Anderson walked and struck out the next two batters.
Unfortunately, Anderson lost control of a pitch and hit a second batter, which loaded the bases. He then proceeded to walk in a run. Ultimately, the run was just a consolation run, as Anderson got the final batter to ground out to second for the final out.
USI-11 Saint Louis-4
Takeaways:
The home opener was a great one for the Eagles. They scored 11 runs on 15 hits and only gave up one error. Some notable offensive performances: Cameron Boyd scored 3 RBIs on two hits, BJ Banyon scored two on three hits, Coakley scored a run on three hits and drew a walk. Ultimately, the bats were hot all around, as only Holiday and Umbach went hitless.
Yamada had a solid start, despite giving up two homers. Sage Stout ultimately got the win, giving up no runs on 1.2 innings of work. Considering the run support that USI got, the pitching staff didn’t have too much to worry about.
USI hits the road this weekend to Carbondale Indiana, where they play Bowling Green State and Southern Illinois University.