Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Baseball Opens Season at No. 19 Florida Atlantic
02/12/2004 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
Feb. 12, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois is one of the first Missouri Valley Conference baseball teams to open its 2004 season when it visits No. 19 Florida Atlantic (4-0) for a three-game series this weekend. The set opens Friday at 6 p.m., CST, and will be followed by a 6 p.m., CST, start Saturday and a 11 a.m., CST, first pitch Sunday.
FAU was picked as high as 19th in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Poll on Dec. 19, but more recently, was tabbed 22nd by Baseball America, 23rd by Sports Weekly/ESPN and 24th by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) earlier this week. FAU is one of two Top-25 teams SIU faces early on in non-conference action.
"We know we'll have our hands full this weekend, but at the same time, think we have a pretty sound ball club," said head coach Dan Callahan. "We're pleased with the number of people that return and we're excited about how we are defensively. Also, we feel our pitching depth is solid."
To say the least, SIU looks forward to playing in the Florida sun this weekend, as inclement weather has limited the Salukis to only two outdoor workouts since the fall. Despite the fact SIU spent the majority of its practice time indoors, Callahan feels his team is prepared for this weekend.
"Although there's no substitute for being outside, I feel like we've covered everything we needed to," said Callahan. "A lot of what we worked on was basically a review of what we did in the fall. Granted, it would have been nice to get on our field to work on ground balls, fly balls and game-type situations, but we did the best we could at simulating those things inside."
While SIU was getting ready for FAU last week, the Owls were playing games, and needless to say, didn't run into any problems with weather.
Off to a perfect 4-0 start after sweeping Florida A&M (2/6-8) and beating Bethune-Cookman (2/10), the preseason-Atlantic Sun favorite FAU enters this weekend led by sophomore outfielder Tim Mascia who is hitting .700 (7-for-10) with five runs scored, one double, two home runs and six RBI. Mascia was named the A-Sun's first Player of the Week on Feb. 9.
In addition to Mascia, other Owls to watch are outfielder Jeff Fiorentino, left-handed pitcher Randy Beam and second baseman Derek Hutton. Fiorentino, a third-team preseason All-American according to Collegiate Baseball, is projected as the Atlantic Sun's Player of the Year this season, while Beam and Hutton also garnered preseason A-Sun honors.
Preseason-picked to finish second in the MVC by the league's coaches, Collegiate Baseball, and Baseball America, SIU returns seven position starters and three starting pitchers from its Valley Tournament runner-up team a year ago.
The most mentioned part of SIU's position starters coming back returns up the middle.
Seniors Greg Andrews (2B) and Cory Newman (CF), along with junior P.J. Finigan (SS) look to anchor a Saluki defense which ranked nationally in back-to-back seasons -- first in double plays per game (1.31) in 2003 and 15th in fielding percentage (.969) in 2002.
Andrews was named second-team all-MVC last season, while Finigan garnered preseason all-MVC honors. Newman, on the other hand, returns after being granted a medical redshirt a year ago. Prior to 2003, Newman started 110 games and was named honorable mention all-MVC in 2002.
FAU holds a 1-0 series lead against SIU. Both teams last met on March 14, 1989, where the Owls posted a 15-6 win over the Salukis in Boca Raton.
SIU is 27-67 (.287) all-time against schools from the state of Florida. The Salukis have played a total of nine universities/colleges in the Sunshine State, including Central Florida (0-3), Florida (2-2), Florida Atlantic (0-1), Florida International (7-1), Florida Southern College (1-0), Florida State (1-6), Miami (11-47), South Florida (2-4) and Stetson (3-3).
Pitching Rotation
Friday - Marshall Tucker (RHP), SIU vs. Randy Beam (LHP), FAU
Saturday - Bryan Rueger (LHP), SIU vs. Matt O'Brien (RHP), FAU
Sunday - Ryan Davis (RHP), SIU vs. Mike Crotta (RHP), FAU
Gametracker
Live stats for all three games between SIU and FAU this weekend can be accessed at either school's web site - SIU: www.siusalukis.com; FAU: www.fausports.com. At www.siusalukis.com, simply click on the gametracker link in the Dawg House under Live Coverage located on the right-hand side of the site's homepage.
