Feb. 18, 2005

Final Stats

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Senior left-hander Bryan Rueger matched the longest outing of his career when he struck out five in eight innings to lead Southern Illinois (2-2) to a 5-2 win over the University of New Orleans (1-3) earlier tonight at Maestri Field.

Rueger, who started game three against Stetson on Feb. 13, switched positions with right-hander Jason Chavez in this weekend's rotation, and had a sparkling performance for the Dawgs.

A native of Mt. Vernon, Ind., Rueger gave up hits here and there, but did a nice job getting outs when he needed to.

For instance, he gave up a one-out single in the first, but recorded a fly ball out and a strikeout to get out of the inning. He would then get three consecutive fly ball outs in the second, despite allowing a lead off double.

"I felt real good out there tonight and located my fast ball better this weekend," said Rueger. "Also, our offense scoring first really helped give me confidence and pitch well with a lead."

While Rueger set the tone on the mound, it didn't take long for the Dawgs' offense to kick in.

SIU took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third with the help of some small ball.

Nathan Emrick reached on an infield hit and moved to second on a bunt single by Kevin Koski. P.J. Finigan followed with a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, who touched home on an ensuing double by Chris McCulloch.

After a lead off solo home run by Matt Rogers quickly cut the Salukis' lead to 2-1 in the Privateer third, SIU answered with another tally in the fourth.

Finigan led off with a walk and went to third on a second hit by McCulloch. The hit-and-run was on, as McCulloch's single landed safely in right center. Grant Gerrard knocked in Finigan on a sacrifice fly.

Trailing, 3-1, UNO appeared to have something going in the fifth, but only came away with one run thanks to a pair of nice plays from the Dawgs' defense.

Rogers drew a one-out walk and took second on a balk by Rueger. Nate Murray tried to stretch a single into a double on the next play, but was gunned down at second on an excellent throw by SIU right fielder Gerrard.

Privateer lead off hitter Jason Schwab was then caught stealing on a 1-3-6 putout after reaching on an infield single.

UNO's baserunning mishaps proved costly in the seventh, where two more SIU runs broke the Privateers' back.

Koski started off with another infield single and stole a base to get into scoring position. Finigan reached on an error by second baseman Schwab and Koski went to third. A balk by UNO reliever Bryan Cryer then allowed Koski to score and Finigan to advance to second, before Brewer's double down the left field line scored Finigan to up the Dawgs' lead to 5-2.

Rueger was relieved by Saluki closer Andrew Weber in the ninth, who threw only seven pitches in an impressive one-two-three inning to pick up his first save of the season.

Rueger, who moved to 2-0 on the year, scattered six hits, allowed two runs, struck out five and walked three in eight innings. He also threw 92 pitches en route to tying the longest outing of his career since going eight innings at Evansville on Apr. 26, 2003.

Ryan Meyer (0-1) took the fall for UNO. He allowed six hits and three runs, while striking out two and walking three.

Offensively, SIU posted double-digit hits for the third game in a row. The Salukis had 12 on the night, as the top half of their order dominated.

Koski, Finigan, McCulloch and Brewer each had two hits apiece to account for all but four of the Dawgs' hits. Erik Alvarez also had two hits, while Emrick and Gerrard each had one to round out the balanced attack.

After committing a total of nine errors in three games at Stetson, the Saluki defense only committed two tonight, which completed a solid all-around effort.

"We got some clutch two-out hits, and the combination of Rueger and Weber were definitely good enough to win," said Saluki head coach Dan Callahan. "We also saw some improvement in our defense."

SIU resumes its series against New Orleans tomorrow at 1 p.m.