SIU baseball Aiden's grit helps Salukis sweep Aces
If you are going to catch the Saluki baseball team in the next two weeks, don't expect a hit fest. They are hitting a measly .231 as a team - so it's amazing that they have won 22 of 44 games so far.
In fact, they just swept the Evansville Aces last weekend, giving them their fifth straight win. So how do they win any games with said hitting troubles?
It's grit. They're not crushing any opponent at the plate, but Coach Ken Henderson says guys like his solid, competitive catcher, Aiden McMahan, have ground out recent wins.
McMahan typifies the hard-nosed play of the Dawgs in their three wins last weekend (8-6, 5-2 and 6-4 Sunday at Ichy Jones Stadium). He got only one hit in two games of the three played last weekend but had three RBIs. McMahan was 1-4 in one game with an RBI. And in the 6-4 getaway defeat of Evansville Sunday, he had two RBIs without a hit at all!
In that one, he hit into a fielder's choice to drive one home and then lofted a sacrifice fly for his second RBI. Putting the ball in play at key times is important for Henderson's hit-starved club, and McMahan does it well. McMahan is hitting but .251 but still is tied for second on the club in RBIs (24).
"You expect him to do that," Henderson said. "He's going to grind and battle to give you a chance to get that run in."
That's what happened, especially in the Dawgs' win Sunday. They fell behind 1-0 in the top of the second but then ground one run of their own home in the bottom of that inning to make it 1-1.
Then the Dawgs scored another in the fifth (2-1 SIU lead). From that point on, the Salukis added single runs in both the sixth and eighth (4-1).
SIU's young pitching staff again looked serviceable as freshman hurdler Matthew Steidl only allowed one run and two hits in five solid innings of work. Sam Grace, Justin Yeager and Trey McDaniel finished up with four shutout innings.
"It all starts on the Bump," Henderson said. "All four guys did great. And we had some timely hits."
Even with the sweep, the Dawgs are still near the doghouse MVC record-wise. They are a weak 4-11 and lost 10 of their first 11 in league. But the eternally optimistic Henderson believes brighter days lie ahead. Those days will also involve grit.
"When we were in that funk, I told the team to take one game at a time," explained Henderson. "We've just got to believe in ourselves."
The Dawgs start a winnable, three-game series today at Valparaiso. They will be battling an equally struggling club (3-12) in the Crusaders.