CARBONDALE, Ill. (4/19/16) – Arkansas State freshman pitcher Peyton Culbertson tossed six strong innings, while senior Tanner Ring drove in three runs to lead the Red Wolves baseball team over Southern Illinois Tuesday night by a score of 7-1 at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Ill.

Culbertson's six innings pitch set a new career high for the Collierville, Tenn., native as he earned the win. He also struck out five to tie a career high and only walked one batter, while the run he allowed was an unearned run. Tanner Kirby came in to finish the game and didn't allow a hit in three innings with one walk and two punch outs as the Maumelle, Ark., native picked up his first career save.

Ring and Garrett Rucker led A-State (15-21) with three hits apiece, while Ring's three RBIs were the highest on the team. Joe Schrimpf and Ty White also had two hits each with White driving in two runs as Arkansas State won both contests against Southern Illinois-Carbondale this season after claiming a 1-0 victory in 10 innings March 15 in Jonesboro.

Southern Illinois (21-16-1) got two hits from Jake Hand and Greg Lambert each, but nothing else from anyone else in the lineup. Starter Bryce Sablotny took the loss for the Salukis after allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits in three innings. SIU turned to five other pitchers to finish the game.

A-State struck in the top of the first on a Ring sacrifice fly to score Schrimpf. Schrimpf walked as the second batter of the game and advanced to third on a single by Rucker to set up the score.

Schrimpf also scored the Red Wolves' second run on a Ring RBI single after the junior second baseman hit a one-out single and advanced to second on another Rucker single. Rucker also came around to score on a RBI groundout by Austin Baker to put Arkansas State up 3-0. Southern Illinois got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an unearned run when Lambert scored on an error by Ring to cut the visitors' advantage to 3-1.

A-State extended the advantage in the top of the sixth inning with two runs for a 5-1 advantage. Matt Burgess led off the inning with a single and was bunted over the second base by Jake Bakamus. Daltan Lovell was hit by a pitch, but Tony Ortiz struck out for the second out of the inning. White stepped up to the plate and lined a pitch into left-center field for a triple to score both runs after the SIU left fielder never saw the ball and allowed it to roll to the fence.

The Red Wolves added another run in the top of the seventh when Ring absolutely destroyed a pitch to send it over the left field fence for his team-leading sixth home run of the year. The lead was extended to 7-1 in the eighth inning on a Schrimpf single through the right side to score Bakamus.

Arkansas State is scheduled to play Mississippi Valley State Wednesday, April 20 in Jonesboro. First pitch from Tomlinson Stadium is set for 6 p.m., but there is rain in forecast. Stay tuned to AStateRedWolves.com for any potential changes.

For the latest on A-State baseball follow the team by logging onto the Arkansas State Baseball Facebook page or by following the team on Twitter (@ASTATEBaseball) and Instagram (arkansasstatebaseball).