Carbondale, IL – Contributed – Arkansas State (22-14) jumped up with a six-run second inning, then cruised on the rest of the way to defeat Southern Illinois (13-22) Tuesday night, 11-5 at Itchy Jones Stadium.

Redshirt junior Ckyler Tengler took the mound for his first start of the season, sitting down the first three batters in order. The A-State offense popped in the second inning, with a leadoff double and a single to put runners at the corners before Patrick Enskov struck his seventh home run of the season for the 3-0 lead with no outs. A pair of singles and a walk interchanged with two outs set up a double that cleared the bases from Evan Griffis for the 6-0 lead after just two innings.

A quiet third inning for both squads gave way to a leadoff Ashton Quiller single to set up a two-run shot from Evan Griffis, his fourth and fifth RBIs on the day as the Red Wolves took an 8-0 advantage.

Jelle van der Lelie handled the third and fourth innings, allowing just one hit and hit batter, while striking out one with no runs let up.

It took Southern Illinois until the fifth inning to find the board, scoring three in the frame for a score of 8-3.

A-State added their ninth run with a two-out triple off the bat of Patrick Engskov, scoring Cross Jumper, who reached base on a walk. The Red Wolves added another two runs in the top of the eighth inning. An RBI single from Derek Martinez put runners at the corners, and Griffis logged his sixth RBI of the night with a sacrifice fly. SIU was able to put up another two runs on a homer to left field before the score crystallized, 11-5.

Win: Ckyler Tengler (1-0)
Loss: Alec Ammerman (0-1)

UP NEXT
A-State continues their week on the road with a series in Monroe, Louisiana against ULM. First pitch Friday, April 17 is set for 6 p.m.