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Weather Alert

Weather Alert

...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING...

* WHAT...Flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be
possible.

* WHERE...Areas of southern Illinois along and south of Highway 13
and all of western Kentucky.

* WHEN...Through this evening.

* IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers,
creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.
Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding may occur
in poor drainage and urban areas.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...
- Scattered to numerous thunderstorms will develop across
southern Illinois and western Kentucky. Areas that see
thunderstorms could receive 1.5 to 3.0 inches of rain in just
one or two hours, with locally higher amounts up to 4 inches
possible.


PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

You should monitor later forecasts and be prepared to take action
should Flash Flood Warnings be issued.

&&

SIU BSB: Eighth-inning rally gives SIU 5-4 win over Murray State

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siu baseball
By Jason Hurst

CARBONDALE (WSIL) -- Ի hit home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as the SIU baseball team rallied from a 4-2 deficit for a 5-4 win over Murray State on Tuesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium.

"You talk about clutch moments when you think about the game," SIU head coach  said. "We were waiting for something to happen. Ian stepped up and got us one-run closer. Even though we were only one-run down, it felt like more, but it felt so much better when the ball J.T. (Weber) hit fell in, and he was at third base with less that two outs. It felt like we finally caught our break to get it moving in the right direction. Their guy threw Neville two really tough breaking balls, and he came back to it one more time. Luckily, he had it up in the zone just enough. Neville did a good job getting into his legs and staying underneath the ball to get the barrel to it. He put that ball into the (20 mph) wind -- that might have been one of the farthest home runs we've hit all year. To get a ball out to right field today in these conditions, you have to hit a ball really good. He got every bit of it."

The Salukis (27-12) trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the eighth inning. Walters hit a one-out homer to the opposite field to get SIU within 4-3. followed that up with a flair into right field that extended his hitting streak to seven games. The Murray State right fielder dove for the ball and couldn't come up with it, and Weber, hustling all the way, got all the way to third base.

The wind was a factor all night, blowing 20 mph straight in from right field. But with an 0-2 count on him,  absolutely crushed a hanging breaking ball straight into that wind that was long over the right field fence and snapped Murray State's five-game winning streak.

On the mound, SIU navigated a staff day well. Six SIU pitchers combined to hold the Racers (21-17) to four runs on eight hits. got SIU out of a pair of jams in the early innings, aided by a 6-4 lineout double play turned by Neville in the third. Murray State got three of its first four on in what became a three-run fifth, its only big inning. (2.2 IP, 2H, 1R) and  (2.0 IP, 1H, 0R) closed it out.

"We had to (grind it out). If you got down, it was going to be really tough to score," Rhodes said. "The only ball that was traveling was if you squared it up to left field. Anywhere else, the wind was killing the ball in the air. If you're down 3-4 runs, it would feel like you're down 10. We really needed everyone to keep the score as close as possible. We got a bunch of different guys in, and they did a great job keeping us right there where our offense could strike at the end and give us a win."

The most memorable part of the game was the eighth-inning comeback, but it was made possible by a pair of two-out rallies in the middle innings. In the fourth inning,  turned a routine single with two outs into a double by sheer hustle, putting himself in scoring position for a Vinnia Massaglia two-out RBI single. In the fifth, the gusting winds helped  get second base on an error, and  came through with the two-out RBI single.

UP NEXT: SIU hosts Missouri State for a four-game series this weekend. Friday's game is set to start at 6 p.m. and will streamed nationally on ESPN+. Saturday (2 p.m. doubleheader) and Sunday (1 p.m.) games will be audio streamed through .

NOTES: SIU improved to 18-6 at home this year, 23-6 at home under head coach , and 54-19 at home in its last 73 home games, dating back to 2018 ... SIU has won five-straight games over Murray State ... The teams will play again in Murray on May 11 ... has reached base safely in 23-straight games ... extended his hitting streak to seven games ... SIU overcame an eighth-inning deficit for the second time this year (trailed Northern Illinois 12-8 in the eighth inning on April 10, won 13-12) ... The game was added to the schedule last week and restored SIU's full 56-game regular season, after an SIU game against Bellarmine was canceled on the April 10 weekend.