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May 11, 2007

Box Score

JENKINS BREAKS SINGLE SEASON STRIKEOUT MARK, PANTHERS FALL TO SALUKIS 7-2

CARBONDALE, Ill. - With his seventh and final strikeout of the day and 111^th of the season, junior Aaron Jenkins broke the University of Northern Iowa baseball team's single season strikeout record. With the good came the bad, however, as the Panthers (20-25, 5-14 MVC) fell 7-2 to Southern Illinois (30-18, 10-9 MVC) after allowing seven unanswered runs.

Staff ace Jenkins (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) may have captured the record, but his start was a return to earth after back-to-back complete game victories over Indiana State and Wichita State. The junior tossed 6.2 innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on 11 hits. The loss put Jenkins at 3-4 on the year.

The Panthers got things started early after Deric Manrique (Sioux City, Iowa/North) drilled the first pitch of the game down the right field line for a leadoff double. Brandon Douglas (St. Charles, Iowa/I-35) followed with an RBI single to left field two batters later, scoring Manrique and giving UNI a 1-0 lead after one inning.

After Jenkins escaped the bottom of the first without surrendering a run, Jeremy Weih (Wilton, Iowa/Wilton) drove a two-out double to the left-centerfield wall and scored on a Jordan Kraayenbrink (Decorah, Iowa/Decorah) RBI single. A run in the second gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead.

A two-out RBI double in the bottom of the third fell just inches from Manrique's outstretched glove and brought the Salukis within a run of the Panther total. Manrique dove straight at the left-centerfield wall, reached full extension, but came just inches short of a spectacular inning-ending catch. One run in the third cut the Panther advantage to 2-1.

Jenkins forced a double-play to elude major damage in the fourth, but not before the Salukis tied the game at two. The Panther ace ceded the lead in the sixth when a Saluki double caromed off the right-centerfield wall and scored the go-ahead run from first base. The run gave SIU a 3-2 lead through six. Jenkins handed the ball to Adam McDermott (Cascade, Iowa/Cascade) with two away in the seventh after allowing two more runs to the Salukis. McDermott allowed two more runs, one charged to Jenkins and the Panthers left the seventh inning in a 7-2 hole.

Zach Zirbel (Ventura, Iowa/Clear Lake) entered in the eighth and sat down the Saluki side in order. The Panthers, down 7-2 in the ninth, went in order and fell 7-2.

The Panther offense mustered eight hits off of Saluki pitcher Shawn Joy. Weih, Kraayenbrink and Douglas finished with two each while Eric Hoffmann (Erskine, Minn./Win-E-Mac) and Manrique had one apiece.

The Panthers and Salukis meet for game two Saturday. First pitch is at 2 pm.

NOTES:

With his 111^th strikeout of the season, Jenkins broke Nic Ungs' six-year old record. Ungs struck out 110 batters in 2001. With 85.2 innings pitched on the year, Jenkins accomplished the feat in 23.1 fewer innings than Ungs (109.0).