SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Southern Illinois scored in seven of its nine at bats Thursday afternoon in cruising to a 13-2 series-opening victory over the Missouri State baseball team at Hammons Field in Springfield.

    The Salukis (27-26, 9-9 Missouri Valley Conference) took the lead for good when Chris Serritella hit an RBI single three batters into the game. SIU’s Michael Stalter started his 4-for-5 day with a leadoff homer in the second and the Bears scored on a double play in the third to pull within 2-1 but got no closer.
   
    Southern Illinois went on to score three in the fourth, one in the sixth and seventh frames, four in the eighth and two in the ninth. The Bears (19-31, 5-14) had a sacrifice fly from Keenen Maddox in the eighth for their second run.

    Mike Kickham took the loss for MSU, striking out four over six innings to give him 96 on the season, the seventh highest total in school history. Nathan Forer allowed a run over seven innings for SIU.

    Kevin Medrano saw his 33-game home hitting streak and 31-game streak of reaching base safely end with an 0-for-4 afternoon. Aaron Conway went 2-for-3 as the only Bear with multiple hits and Luke Voit went 1-for-4 in his return to the lineup after missing six weeks with a thumb injury.

    The Bears and Salukis meet again at 6:30 p.m. Friday.