Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Baseball Travels To Northern Iowa This Weekend
04/25/2002 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
April 25, 2002
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Carbondale, Ill. - Southern Illinois University (23-15, 10-10 MVC) travels to Waterloo, Iowa to face the University of Northern Iowa (18-18, 6-14 MVC) in a crucial Missouri Valley Conference series at Waterloo Riverfront Stadium.
"We've been playing well lately and we have to keep playing with that intensity down the stretch. These are four big games. Northern Iowa has some good hitters and we really need to pitch well this weekend. They may be in seventh place but they are a dangerous team," said SIU head coach Dan Callahan.
The Panthers are four games behind the fourth place Salukis and have lost six of their last eight games. SIU won last year's series 3-1 behind the hitting of Greg Andrews (.556), Luke Nelson (.500), Ryan Murray (.500), Justin Maurath (.429) and Sal Frisella (.333).
The Salukis are coming off a 15-5 pounding of Murray State on Tuesday, led by Ross Kowzan's career-high five hits and .421 batting average. Jeff Stanek (.374), Toby Barnett (.351), P.J. Finigan (.324) and Justin Maurath (.315) also lead the SIU offense, which is fourth in the MVC. Jake Alley (5-2, 3.21), Ryan Welch (4-2, 3.29), Eric Haberer (2-0, 3.81) and Luke Nelson (4-3, 5.31) lead the Saluki pitching staff.
UNI is second in the MVC in hitting (.303), led by Travis Welsch (.376), Jason Simon (.354) and Roman Hummel (.354) at the plate. Matt Thissen (4-1, 1.50), Chris Rosselot (3-2, 4.89), Josh Habel (3-3, 4.47) and Micah Green (3-3, 6.48) lead UNI on the mound. No. Iowa has a 5.30 era (5th in MVC).
Southern Illinois plays a single game on Friday at 6 p.m., a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m. and a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
