Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Baseball takes on Saint Louis in Sauget Wednesday
05/11/2004 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 11, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois (19-27-1) and Saint Louis (13-35) will meet for the second time in as many years Wednesday night at GMC Stadium in Sauget. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.
GMC Stadium serves as the home of the independent Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League. Both SIU and SLU will use wooden bats in the contest.
SIU last split a four-game series against Indiana State, and as a result, remained in fourth-place in the Missouri Valley Conference with one final conference series left.
Sophomore Nathan Emrick tops the Dawgs with a .368 clip at the plate, while Greg Andrews has driven in a team-leading 32 RBI and ties for the team-lead with 11 doubles. Andrews had three doubles last week against the Sycamores, which upped his career two-base hit total to 41. His 41 career doubles now tie for sixth on the school's all-time career list.
SLU enters tomorrow's mid-week matchup after losing two of three games to No. 5 East Carolina last week.
Drew Eder tops the Billiken offense with a .310 batting average which includes 21 runs scored, nine doubles, three home runs and 27 RBI. Ryan Bird tops SLU on the mound with a 5.14 ERA. Bird, who also holds a 2-6 record, has struck out 44 batters in 61.1 innings.
As a team, SLU's .261 batting average nearly matches SIU's .268. Defensively, the Billikens have committed 81 errors to the Salukis' 74.
SIU holds a commanding 55-10 series lead against SLU. The Salukis blanked the Billikens, 14-0, in last year's wooden bat game at GMC Stadium on May 13, 2003. That win started a four-game winning streak for SIU, who won its last four of six games to round out the 2003 campaign.
