Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Baseball Hosts SE Missouri State Wednesday
04/26/2005 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
April 26, 2005
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill.-Southern Illinois (25-15) goes after its sixth consecutive midweek win when it hosts Mississippi River rival SE Missouri State (16-22) Wednesday at 3 p.m., CST.
SIU, who has won five of its last six games, looks to avenge a 7-3 loss to SEMO (Mar. 10) earlier this year.
Broadcast Information
Wednesday's game against SE Missouri State can be accessed via the internet only. Live stats will also be available online. Live Audio
Live Stats
Dawgs in Non-Conference
SIU enters Wednesday's game with a 16-9 record against non-conference opponents this season.
The Salukis have played six games against teams from the Ohio Valley Conference, and are 4-2 in those matchups.
After dropping back-to-back games to Murray State (Mar. 2) and SEMO (Mar. 10), SIU has since defeated UT-Martin (4-3) on Mar. 29, MSU (6-2) on Apr. 6, Eastern Illinois (9-0) on Apr. 12 and UT-Martin (12-7) on Apr. 19.
On the year, SIU is hitting .290 and holds a 3.76 ERA in non-league play. The Salukis are also averaging 6.4 runs and 10.4 hits per game against teams outside the Valley.
How About at Home?
The Salukis have won eight of their last nine at home.
SIU, at one time, had a six-game winning streak at Abe Martin Field, which lasted from Mar. 25-Apr. 12.
Statistically, the Dawgs are outhitting (.300 to .224), outscoring (121-61), outpitching (2.56-5.85 ERA) and outfielding (.964-.960) opponents on their home diamond. SIU has also collected double-digit hits in 10 of its home dates this season. Not to mention, 11 of the Salukis' 22 homers have been hit at Abe's Place.
Series History
SIU is 36-19 all-time against SEMO. Both teams last met on Mar. 10 in Cape Girardeau, Mo., where the Redhawks downed the Salukis, 7-3.
The Dawgs have won three of their last six meetings with SEMO, and are 6-11 versus the Redhawks under Callahan.
The Coaches
Dan Callahan (Quincy College, `81; SIU, `87) is 276-314-1, 142-179-1 (MVC) in his 11th season at the helm of the Saluki Baseball program. Callahan guided the Dawgs to the MVC Tournament Championship game in each of the last two seasons. He is 429-472-2 all-time in 16-plus years as a Division I head coach.
Mark Hogan (SE Missouri State, `77) is 701-511-3 in his 24th year as SEMO's head coach. Under Hogan, the Redhawks have become a dominant force in the Ohio Valley, where they appeared in the OVC Tournament title game five of the last eight years.
Midweek Man
Freshman right-hander Ryan Terry (Palmyra, Mich.) will make his fifth consecutive midweek start Wednesday against SEMO.
Terry, who hails from Palmyra, Mich., emerged as the Salukis' midweek starter when he gave up one hit and struck out two in five scoreless innings of a no-decision against the Skyhawks on Mar. 29.
A week later, he scattered four hits, struck out two and gave up a pair of runs in five innings against Murray State (Apr. 6). He also held the Thoroughbreds scoreless for four innings en route to his first career win.
Terry then struck out six in seven shutout innings to lead SIU to a 9-0 blanking of Eastern Illinois (Apr. 12).
After holding opponents scoreless for 16 of 17 innings, Terry had his shakiest start when he gave up 11 hits and five runs in three innings at UT-Martin on Apr. 19.
Terry is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA in seven appearances, including four starts. He also recorded 16 strikeouts in 25 innings of work.
Scouting the Redhawks
SEMO has gone 3-3 in its last six games, and carries a three-game winning streak to Carbondale after sweeping Eastern Illinois on Apr. 23-24.
The Redhawks are led by Frank Montiel, who is hitting .340 with a team-leading 12 doubles and 30 RBI. Montiel went 2-for-4 with a run scored his last time against SIU on Mar. 10.
As a team, SEMO is hitting .266, and has committed 46 errors in 38 games. The Redhawks also hold a 4.83 ERA on the mound.
Salukis Sweep MVC Weekly Honors Again
For the second time this season, the Missouri Valley Conference weekly honors are swept by SIU. Two-time Valley Pitcher of the Week P.J. Finigan (Springfield, Ill.) switches gears and earns Player of the Week honors, while Tyler Norrick (Festus, Mo.) is this week's Pitcher of the Week.
Finigan hit .444 (8-for-18) with four runs scored, two doubles, a pair of home runs and 10 RBI. He also posted multiple-hits on three straight occasions to lead SIU to a 3-1 record last week.
He started the week by going 3-for-5 with both a career-high two home runs and five RBI at UT-Martin. After registering two hits in each of his first two games against UE, Finigan ended up hitting .385 (5-for-13) with two runs scored, a pair of doubles and five RBI on the series. In addition, he had 14 assists as the Salukis' shortstop.
Meanwhile, Norrick improved his record to 3-1 on the season after striking out eight in a one-hit complete game shutout against UE on Apr. 24.
Norrick, who started and pitched one inning of SIU's suspended series-opener against the Aces, returned to the mound Sunday, and recorded the first complete game shutout of his career.
A native of Festus, Mo., Norrick fanned four of the first six hitters he faced, and all of those strikeouts came, consecutively, between the first and second innings. He also carried a no-hitter through four innings, before giving up his only hit in the fifth, a single to center. Also, only seven Purple Aces reached base against him.
Finigan has now helped SIU sweep the league's weekly honors twice this season.
Here is a list of Salukis, who have been named MVC Pitcher or Player of the Week this season: Mar. 14 - P.J. Finigan (Pitcher). Mar. 28 - Matt Brewer (Player); P.J. Finigan (Pitcher). Apr. 25 - P.J. Finigan (Player); Tyler Norrick (Pitcher).
More Dawg Bites
Saluki leadoff man Kevin Koski's (Schaumburg, Ill.) hitting streak is now at 16 games after he hit a team-leading .467 (7-for-15) with six runs scored, a double, stolen base and one RBI in four games last week. Koski started his hitting streak against UT-Martin on Mar. 29, and has since gone 23-for-66 (.348) with 14 runs scored, one RBI, two doubles, seven walks and five stolen bases. He also has six multiple-hit games in that stretch.
After going 13 games in a row without driving in a run, SIU's top RBI threat, Matt Brewer (Springfield, Ill.), went 3-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI against UE on Apr. 24. Brewer, who previously served as SIU's three-hole hitter, dropped to sixth, seventh and eighth in the order against the Aces last weekend. Brewer was also hitting only .176 (9-for-51) over those 13 games, before posting his first RBI since Mar. 29.
In addition to being named this week's MVC Player of the Week, P.J. Finigan (Springfield, Ill.) also made the College Baseball Foundation's Weekly National Honor Roll. This week marked the second time this season that Finigan has been honored by the CBF, a charitable educational organization which salutes the finest performances in collegiate baseball each week.
Since the loss of its starting right fielder and cleanup hitter Grant Gerrard (Castle Rock, Colo.), no Saluki has hit better than .211 in the four-hole. However, SIU hitters are producing in other parts of the order. Namely, at the top, where Koski (.383), Finigan (.382) and Nathan Emrick (Griggsville, Ill.) (.310) have teamed up for quite a nice one-two-three punch since the loss of Gerrard.
