Baseball To Open MVC Tournament as No. 4 Seed
05/21/2002 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 21, 2002
Wichita, Kan. - Fourth-seeded Southern Illinois University (32-22, 17-15 MVC) will open the 2002 MVC Tournament third-seeded Southwest Missouri State University (37-17, 19-13 MVC) on Wednesday, May 22 at 11:00 a.m. This year's tournament will be held at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kan.
"I'm glad to be here. This a big-time atmosphere and it's exciting to have a shot at an NCAA Regional bid and we might as well win the tourney," said Dan Callahan, Saluki head coach. "We've done just enough to win and our offense and pitching has taken turns carrying us. If we can get someone going at the plate or on the mound we have a good chance."
The Salukis lost the regular season series to SMS 3 to 1, winning the finale behind Luke Nelson's career-high 11 strikeouts. Callahan says that doesn't really mean much now.
"What happened during the regular season means very little right now. That was our roughest weekend and the only series we lost all year. SMS was good that weekend and no one knows why they've struggled a little bit lately. I'm sure their goal is to put that behind them and beat us in the tournament opener. This tourney is up for grabs and I like our chances."
Southern is 9-22 under Dan Callahan against SMS including a 1-1 (W 5-4, L 17-11) mark in the 1997 MVC Tourney. SIU is 2-1 all-time in MVC Tournament play against SMS with a 3-1 win over the Bears in the 1994 MVC Tournament in the only other meeting.
SIU is led by Ross Kowzan (.361), Justin Maurath (.338) and Jeff Stanek (.333) at the plate and Jake Alley (6-3, 3.36), Ryan Welch (5-3, 4.08) and Luke Nelson (6-5, 5.74) on the mound. In MVC play, SIU is fifth in pitching (4.97), third in fielding (.963), fifth in hitting (.281) and sixth in scoring (5.44 runs per game). Overall, SIU is hitting .294 (5th) with a 4.47 era (3rd) and the best defense (.970).
SMS is led by Dant'e Brinkley (.381), Jeremy Isenhower (.358), Greg Mathis (.357) and Shaun Marcum (.348) at the plate. Brad Zeigler (6-3, 2.31), Derek Eddie (4-1, 3.93) and Jeff Gray (6-2, 3.96) on the mound. The Bears hit .324 (1st in MVC) with a 4.12 era (2nd in MVC) overall.
If SIU wins, they will play the Creighton/Indiana State winner on Thursday at 3 p.m. If the Salukis lose game one of the double-elimination tournament, SIU will play the winner of the Wichita State/Northern Iowa winner on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Wednesday's game and all day games can be heard on 1020 AM locally or at www.siusalukis.com. Any night games will be broadcast locally on 95.1 FM and available on www.magic951.com for those outside the local listening area. SIU has qualified for the MVC Tournament four times (1996, 1997, 2000, 2002) in Dan Callahan's eight years.