Saluki Baseball Sets to Face Illinois
06/21/2001 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 1, 2001
Southern Illinois University Carbondale (16-31, 9-19 MVC) will be on the road to face the University of Illinois (23-25, 10-13 Big Ten) on Wednesday, May 2 at 6:30 p.m. in a non-conference game at Illinois Field.
Prior to that contest, the Salukis and Illini will complete an earlier game on March 28 that was suspended due to darkness after the eighth inning.
Although the Illinois games are non-conference, Saluki head coach Dan Callahan would like to grab two wins before heading into the final MVC series against Bradley and the last chance for SIU to get into the tournament.
"It would be nice to pick up a couple wins before the Bradley series. We have to play the last nine games for pride. I hope we can make a run. It would be nice to win six or seven of our last nine or do better than that to end the season strong," said Callahan.
The Salukis were swept by Evansville last week and have lost 17 of their last 22 since winning four straight MVC games in March and will count on the hot bats of Roman Schooley, Sal Frisella and Justin Maurath to get back on the wining track.
Frisella hit .529 (9-17) with two home runs, two doubles six-RBIs and five runs scored with a 1.000 slugging percentage against Evansville to raise his average to a season high .262. Schooley batted .471 (8-for-17) in the series with two-RBIs and two runs scored, while Maurath hit .364 (4-for-11) with a double and two-RBIs.
Schooley's hot weekend improved his average to a team high .344 and extended his hitting streak to five games. Luke Nelson (.308) and Justin Maurath (.306) round out the top three SIU threats. The Salukis are hitting .269 as a team and have a 6.25 earned run average led by closer Scott Lucht (6-3, 2.47 era).
The Illini have struggled as well, winning only five of its last 14 games and are coming off a split with Michigan.
Illinois hits .298 as a team and is led by Andy Schutzenhofer (.372), Rob Fisher (.364) and Luke Simmons (.353). The Illini have a 5.59 staff ERA led by Andy Dickinson's 8-1 record with a 3.57 era.
SIU has a 26-15 series advantage against the Illini and sport a 6-4 mark under Dan Callahan against his former mentor and SIU Hall of Fame coach Richard "Itch" Jones.
The Salukis will travel to Bradley this weekend for a four game series with an opportunity to still make the Missouri valley Conference Tournament on March 16-19 in Wichita, Kansas.