Baseball Opens MVC Tournament Against No. 3 SMS Wednesday
05/25/2004 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 25, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Fourth-seeded Southern Illinois (24-30-1, 15-16-1) will take on No. 3 Southwest Missouri State (30-26, 19-12) in the first round of the 2004 ConAgra Foods Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Wednesday at 7 p.m. This year's tournament is hosted by the Bears and will be played at SMS' new 32-million dollar Hammons Field.
The 2004 MVC Tournament will be held outside of Wichita, Kan., for the first time in five years.
No. 1 Wichita State, who was picked to win the league's regular-season title in the preseason poll, captured their 18th regular-season crown, and will kick off the tournament against Evansville at 11 a.m., tomorrow. No. 2 Creighton and No. 5 Indiana State (3 p.m.) will also play before SIU and SMS take the field.
SIU, who appeared at the MVC Tournament for the first time in 1975, makes its 21st trip to the league's postseason championship this season. Since 1975, the Salukis have compiled an overall record of 40-36 (.526) in Valley Tournament games.
At the 2003 MVC Tournament, SIU averaged 13 hits a game and its bullpen went the entire tournament without allowing an earned run en route to a second-place finish. Heading into this year's tournament, the Salukis look to get the bats going after collecting just 27 hits over their last four games.
Since starting the season at 0-12, SIU has steadily improved. Dating back to April 18, the Salukis have gone 14-8 in their last 22 games and carry a two-game winning streak to this week's MVC Tournament.
First-team all-MVC utility player Nathan Emrick has played six different positions for the Salukis, and leads the team in several offensive categories, including batting average (.355), runs (34), hits (77) and stolen bases (15). He also tops SIU with 24 multiple-hit games and is on a four-game hitting streak.
Pitching wise, the Salukis boast a solid 4.47 ERA, which ranks third among league opponents. Part of SIU's pitching success can be attributed to right-handers Jason Chavez (honorable mention) and Andrew Weber (first-team), and left-hander Eric Haberer (second-team). Each of the three also garnered all-conference accolades.
SMS, who holds the home field advantage as host of this year's tournament, is currently on a six-game losing streak after being swept by WSU and dropping a pair of games to Arkansas State.
Earlier this year, SIU beat SMS in the first-ever game played at Hammons Field, but the Bears regrouped to take a 3-1 series win. Both teams met in the MVC Tournament a year ago, where the Dawgs posted a 9-4 win to advance to their first championship round since 1990.
Despite having to leave the game due to back spasms in SIU's series-opener against Northern Iowa (5/20), Haberer (5-3, 3.58 ERA) will start on the mound tomorrow against the Bears.
Right-hander Derek Drage (3-6, 3.30 ERA), who struck out 10 batters in a nine-inning loss the last time he faced SIU, is expected to take the hill for SMS.
If SIU beats SMS, it will play the winner of No. 2 Creighton and No. 5 Indiana State on Thursday at 3 p.m. If the Salukis lose to the Bears, they will face the winner of No. 1 Wichita State and No. 6 Evansville on Thursday at 7 p.m.