Weber Ties School Record in SIU Baseball Loss to Illinois State

CARBONDALE, Ill. (SIU ATHLETICS) - - Illinois State won a slugfest against the No. 28-ranked SIU baseball team on Sunday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium, 14-11. SIU junior left fielder tied the SIU single-game record with eight RBIs in the loss. Illinois State won the series, 3-1.

Weber went 3-for-5 with two home runs, including a grand slam, in the loss. He became the fifth player in SIU history to drive in eight runs in a game.

"He basically kept us in the game," SIU head coach said of Weber. "We were pretty much dead until he hit the grand slam. Suddenly, you're thinking we have a fighting chance here. We just couldn't keep them from scoring. That's where we have to address some issues."

Illinois State (11-15, 3-1 MVC), which improved to 6-2 in its last eight games, jumped on top quickly. The Redbirds scored two in the first inning, two in the third, and then four in the fourth to take an 8-0 lead. Weber briefly gave SIU the momentum with a grand slam in the fifth inning, but Illinois State answered right back with two more runs in the top of the sixth. Illinois State hit .329 and scored 36 runs in the four-game series. SIU opponents have hit .337 and averaged nearly 10 runs per game in the last seven games.

"It was a frustrating weekend. We need to get back to the drawing board and figure out what combinations we can put together to get our pitching staff to perform better," Rhodes said. "I don't know if it's putting guys in different roles, or bringing guys in in different situations, or putting starters in the bullpen or vice versa. There are a lot of things we have to think about and discuss as coaches to figure out how to get better performance on the mound. Right now, it doesn't matter how well we play defense or score or base run. If we're not going to be better on the mound that we were the last two weekends, we're not going to be any good anyway. That's where we're at. We have to be better on the mound."

SIU (20-6, 4-4 MVC), which has one of the smallest rosters in the nation, has been hit hard by injuries and played the series without ��Ի�� due to injury. Then, in the first game of yesterday's doubleheader, catcher pulled up rounding first base, which placed starting pitcher behind the plate as SIU's emergency catcher. When it rains, it pours, and today, starting pitcher was pulled in the second inning with an apparent injury.

Illinois State's relentless offense punished SIU's bullpen. SIU brought in seven pitchers out of the bullpen behind Hansell, and the Redbirds scored on each of the first six until pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

"It's hard to play baseball and be successful if you don't prioritize being good on the mound first," Rhodes said. "We need to get back to being a defensive-minded, pitching team, and not think that we're going to come out and score 14 runs and keep up with everybody every single game. We can't do that."

The Redbirds extended their lead to 13-4 and threatened to run-rule the Salukis in seven innings. With runners on the corners and no outs, got a strikeout and double-play ball to end that threat. Weber hit his second homer of the game in a three-run seventh to bring SIU within 13-7. Illinois State added a run in the eighth to make it 14-7. SIU scored four runs in the ninth and got as close as having the potential tying run in the on-deck circle, but fell 14-11.

"We have to make changes quick. The season doesn't stop because we're in a funk," Rhodes said. "The next game is going to happen on Tuesday whether we need it to happen or not. We have to be ready on Tuesday, and then we have another four games next weekend. It doesn't get any easier. We have to work our way out of this on the run."

UP NEXT: SIU hosts Austin Peay on Tuesday at Itchy Jones Stadium.