Sangamon Sun

Cougars Overwhelm Fontbonne in Seven

SIUE baseball ran its home record to 6-0 with a 14-3 win over Fontbonne in seven innings Tuesday at Simmons Baseball Complex.

SIUE improved to 11-4 overall. Fontbonne is 9-6.

"The goal was to come out and play clean baseball," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "There were a few more walks than I wanted out of the day, but defensively we played clean."

With the exception of the sixth inning, SIUE score in every inning in which it hit. The Cougars were able get at-bats from 14 different players and scored 14 runs on 10 hits.

"Some guys that needed to swing the bat and get some confidence going were able to do so today," Lyons added. "It was a good win."

Kyle Ratliff led the charge with a pair of hits and five RBIs. Ratliff plated two with a triple in the fourth inning before hitting a three-run home run in the fifth.

"Kyle showed what he's capable of doing today," Lyons said. "He got a couple of pitches to drive, and he hit some gaps with the triple and the home run. That was a big day for him."

Ethan Willoughby picked up his first collegiate hit and RBI in the first with an infield single to short before hitting a two-run home run in the third. Matthew Klein was 2-2 with a two-run single in the fifth and two runs scored. Brennan Orf was 1-3 and got the scoring started with a solo home run in the first inning.

"It's good to see those guys swinging the bats," Lyons said.

Taylor Bruninga (1-0) started and threw three scoreless innings. He walked one and tied his career high with five strikeouts.

"Good to get Taylor the start to get him going a little bit and start working that pitch count up to further use him as the season goes on," Lyons said. "That was big."

Spencer Smith threw a scoreless inning and Ian Benner finished the game with 1 2/3 innings scoreless.

"Spencer Smith getting a clean inning and Ian Benner there at the end did a really nice job," Lyons said. "I am happy about how those guys pitched."

SIUE is scheduled to face UIC in a weekend series beginning Friday at Simmons Complex.

Original source can be found here