Southern Illinois took a no-hitter into the ninth inning, then withstood a late Creighton rally as the Salukis took the series finale 5-4 Sunday afternoon in Carbondale.

SIU used four pitchers and were two outs away from a no-hitter when Robbie Knight pulled a Daniel Etienne fastball into left for a single, driving home two runs. It was the Jays' only hit of the game.

Southern Illinois led 2-0 when Creighton scored without the benefit of a hit in the fourth inning. Steve Winkelmann walked, raced all the way to third on a wild pitch by Saluki starter Adam Curynski and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nick Nordgren.

SIU took a 5-1 lead to the eighth when Knight was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a walk to Elliot Soto. After Darin Ruf’s flyout to center moved up both runners, Winkelmann walked again to load the bases.

Knight then scored on a wild pitch from reliever Daniel Wells to cut the deficit to 5-2, but Wells got Nordgren to foul out to first to end the threat.

Curynski (3-1) did not allow a hit in a career-high five innings of work, allowing three walks and one run while striking out four. He threw 79 pitches before being lifted in favor of Jimmy Cornell. Cornell threw 2.2 hitless innings, though he did walk three men. Wells walked two and hit one in two-thirds of an inning and was lifted after throwing just six strikes in 17 pitches. He gave way to freshman Etienne, who recorded his first career save by retiring Soto and Ruf.

CU’s Zak Moore (4-6) threw six innings and allowed seven hits, two walks and two runs while striking out four.

Southern Illinois improved to 26-20 with the win and 7-11 in the Valley, while CU dropped to 30-16 and 13-8 in league action.