Baseball Concludes Regular Season at Northern Iowa This Weekend
05/19/2004 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 19, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois (22-28-1, 13-14-1) travels to Northern Iowa (23-29, 10-18) to play its final Missouri Valley Conference series of the season. The Salukis and Panthers will open a four-game set Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
UNI was the only league opponent SIU swept in four games a year ago. The Salukis also beat the Panthers in the first round of the 2003 MVC Tournament.
SIU was rained out for the first time this season on Tuesday at Illinois. The game was cancelled in the bottom of the second inning.
Entering this weekend, SIU has won four of its last five games and is 12-6 in its last 18 contests.
Sophomore Nathan Emrick continues to lead the Salukis with a .362 batting average. A native of Griggsville, Ill., Emrick played his sixth different position of the season when he was moved to right field in SIU's 10-1 win over Illinois State on May 1. Prior to that, Emrick had played at least one game at catcher, first base, third base, shortstop and left field. Along with his .362 average, Emrick tops the Dawgs in hits (72), runs (33) and stolen bases (15), and ranks third in RBI (28).
Meanwhile, UNI has lost five of its last eight games and is led by Armando Lara's .337 clip at the plate. Lara was named this week's MVC Player of the Week.
SIU split four games with UNI in its last two trips to Waterloo (2000 and 2002). Also, the last time the Salukis won a four-game series on UNI's home diamond was in 1999. The Salukis swept the Panthers that year. SIU is 33-11 all-time against UNI.
If SIU wins Thursday, Dan Callahan will get his 400th career win as a head coach. Callahan, who coached six years at Eastern Illinois (1989-94) and is presently in his 10th season at SIU, is 399-451-2 all-time.
Junior left-hander Eric Haberer will start Thursday's opener on the mound.
Friday and Saturday's games between SIU and UNI will be broadcast live on WCIL 1020 AM. There will be no live stats this weekend.
So far, regular-season champion Wichita State, Creighton and SMS have clinched MVC Tournament berths. The remaining three will be determined this weekend. Currently, SIU, Evansville and Indiana State occupy those spots.