Box Score The Valparaiso University baseball team sliced a four-run lead in half by scoring twice in the top of the ninth, but Southern Illinois closed out a 6-4 series-opening victory on Thursday night at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Ill. Dylan Immel (Brownsville, Wis. / Lomira) yielded one run over three solid innings of relief to keep the Beacons within striking distance.  
 
How It Happened

• Southern Illinois scored twice in the opening inning as Cecil Lofton stroked a run-scoring single and another run scored on a fielder's choice bouncer.
• SIU threatened with two on and nobody out in the second, but Valpo starting pitcher Adam Guazzo (Huntley, Ill. / Huntley) sent down three straight to wiggle out of the inning unscathed.
• The Salukis added a pair in the third to double the lead to 4-0.
• Valpo got on the board in the fourth as Cal Schembra (Greenwood, Ind. / Center Grove) lashed a run-scoring single to left but was cut down trying to stretch it to a double. Later in the inning, Javin Gauthier (De Pere, Wis. / De Pere) became the fourth straight Beacon to reach base against the new SIU pitcher with an RBI double to make it 4-2. Valpo had a chance for more with the bases juiced and one away, but a 6-3 double play ended the inning.
• Southern Illinois picked up a run in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Kye Watson, cashing in after a walk and a stolen base started the inning. That pushed the lead back to three at 5-2.
• Valpo tried to muster up a two-out rally in the fifth with a walk and a double that put runners at second and third, but a line drive to center was snared to end the inning.
• Valpo went to the bullpen in the sixth as Immel made quick work of the Salukis, sending down the side in order to keep the Brown & Gold within three.  
• Southern Illinois added one in the bottom of the eighth, extending the lead to 6-2.
• Three of the first four Beacons who came to the plate in the top of the ninth collected base hits, including Michael Kuska (Pontiac, Ill. / Pontiac Township), whose two-run single sliced the four-run lead in half and brought the tying run to the plate with one out. However, that was as close as the Beacons would come.

Inside the Game

• Immel logged three innings, allowing one run on one hit while walking two.
• Each team had 11 hits, with Valpo notching exactly 11 knocks for the third time in the last four games.
• Eight of the nine Beacon batters had at least one hit.
• Schembra, Kuska and Gavin Bennett (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville) had two hits apiece.
• Guazzo, a redshirt junior, made his 52^nd and possibly final pitching appearance in a Valpo uniform. He logged 128 innings and struck out 107 in his Valpo career, which featured three years of action after redshirting as a freshman.
• Valpo continued to come up just shy in a lot of close games as this marked the team's 16^th loss of the season by two runs or fewer.

Up Next
The Beacons (11-37, 4-18 MVC) and Salukis will continue the series on Friday at 6 p.m. in Carbondale, Ill. The game will air on ESPN+.