Baseball Hosts South Dakota State This Weekend

May 12, 2005

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill.-Southern Illinois (31-18) hosts South Dakota State (15-31) in a three-game series this weekend. The Salukis and Jackrabbits play Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m., CST.

SIU has seven games left in its 2005 regular-season, and six are at home.

After this weekend, the Dawgs square off against No. 20 (Baseball America) Missouri in a wood bat game at T.R. Hughes Stadium in O'Fallon, Mo., on May 17. SIU then returns to Carbondale to finish up conference play with a three-game series against Illinois State (May 19-21).

Broadcast Information
Live audio and gametracker will be available for all three games between Southern Illinois and South Dakota State at www.siusalukis.com. QuickTime Player is required for all audio webcasts.

Southern Illinois Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday - 26 Tyler Norrick, Jr., LHP, 4-2, 2.60 ERA
Saturday - 11 P.J. Finigan, Sr., RHP, 7-2, 3.10 ERA
Sunday - 23 Bryan Rueger, Sr., LHP, 7-3, 3.23 ERA

There's No Place Like Home
SIU plays 10 of its 13 games during the month of May at Abe Martin Field, where the Dawgs are currently 17-6 this season.

SIU enters the weekend looking to extend their home winning streak to three games after posting back-to-back wins against Wichita State on May 7-8. The Salukis are 11-3 in their last 14 games at home.

The Salukis are averaging 6.3 runs and 10.3 hits against opponents at home this season. They also hit .302 and boast a 2.56 ERA in 23 home dates.

The Race is On
SIU, who is the only Missouri Valley Conference school which steps out of league play this weekend, is currently in third-place in the MVC behind Creighton (37-12, 15-6 MVC) and Wichita State (39-18, 12-6 MVC).

The Salukis are two games out of first and one and a half games out of second.

SIU has posted series wins against its last four league opponents, including SMS, Evansville, Indiana State and Wichita State.

Elsewhere in the Valley this weekend, SMS visits Illinois State, Creighton heads to Evansville, Bradley is at Northern Iowa and Indiana State plays at Wichita State.

The Coaches
Dan Callahan (Quincy College, `81; SIU, `87) is 282-317-1, 146-181-1 (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 435-475-2 all-time in 16-plus years as a Division I head coach. Last weekend, SIU gave Callahan his third 30-win season in four years.

Standing at 31-18 overall, SIU is in position to register the most wins in a season under Callahan. With a pair of victories this weekend, the Salukis will surpass Callahan's current season-high of 32 wins, which came in 2002 (32-24).

Reggie Christiansen is 15-31 in his first season as head coach of SDSU. Christiansen served as a volunteer assistant coach for two seasons before being named to the SDSU post on July 19, 2004.

Scouting the Jackrabbits
A new era in Jackrabbit baseball began this season, as SDSU joined the Division I ranks.

SDSU, previously a member of the Division II North Central Conference, is wrapping up a 53-game regular-season schedule, which concludes at the Division I Independent Tournament in Greeley, Colo.

SDSU, who has played 32 of its 45 games on the road, squares off against its sixth MVC school when it visits SIU this weekend. The Jackrabbits, who are 0-12 against Valley teams, also faced Creighton (0-3), Evansville (0-2), Illinois State (0-1), Indiana State (0-4) and Northern Iowa (0-2).

The Jackrabbits, who have been outscored, 104-49, against MVC teams this season, are led by Greg Geary, who is hitting .329 with 36 runs, 11 doubles, nine home runs and 47 RBI.

As a team, SDSU hits .278 with 24 homers, and holds a 7.71 ERA on the mound. The Jackrabbits are also 5-7 in their last 12 games.

Finigan Named MVC Pitcher of the Week for Third Time This Season
For the third time this season, P.J. Finigan (Springfield, Ill.) was named MVC Pitcher of the Week, as announced by the league office on May 9.

Finigan limited Wichita State to only two hits en route to his second complete game, nine-inning win of the season on May 7. He also struck out six, tossed eight shutout innings and gave up one run, which came unearned in the sixth.

The Springfield, Ill., native set the tone early by retiring seven of his first eight. He faced a two-out bases loaded jam as part of a 25-pitch third inning, but beared down to get the Shockers' top home run threat, Joe Muich, to fly out.

Of the 10 Shockers who reached base against him, only three made it past second.

Finigan, who was also named MVC Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 14 and Mar. 28, has now registered four complete game wins this season, with two consisting of seven innings.

In addition to his MVC Pitcher of the Week honor, Finigan was named to this week's College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll for the third time as well.

Koski Named CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V
Sophomore outfielder Kevin Koski (Schaumburg, Ill.) was one of 11 members selected to the 2005 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V Baseball Team, announced on May 12.

Koski, who carries a 3.66 grade point average in Physical Education, is having an impressive season as the Salukis starting center fielder and leadoff man.

He hits a second-best .363, and leads SIU in runs (47), walks (22) and stolen bases (12). He also ranks fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference in batting average, second in runs scored, third in total plate appearances (239) and ties for third in at-bats (201).

In addition, Koski is currently on a 25-game hitting streak, tops the Dawgs with 23 multiple-hit games and ranks 24th in the nation among hitters toughest to strikeout. He has only struck out 12 times in 49 starts this season.

Koski, along with Evansville's Adam Rogers and Bradley's Brian Spielman and Brad Canada represented the MVC on this year's Academic All-District V Baseball Team.

Koski's Hitting Streak Among Top-10 in MVC
Kevin Koski's 25-game hitting streak is among the top-10 in the MVC. Following is a list of those streaks:

1. Phil Stephenson, Wichita State (1981)  47 2. Derek Schermerhorn, Wichita State (2005) 34 3. Chris Wimmer, Wichita State (1990-91)  32 Demetrius Dowler, Indiana State (1993)  32 Clint Barmes, Indiana State (2000)  326. Tony Roth, Creighton (2004-05)   28 7. Vince Pietro, Creighton (2000)   27 8. Loren Hibbs, Wichita State (1982)  26 9. Eric Wedge, Wichita State (1989)   25 Kevin Koski, Southern Illinois (2005)  25**Current Streak

Among the Nation's Best
For the third straight week, SIU is ranked nationally in ERA. The Salukis are 18th with a 3.32 ERA.

Individually, Salukis Matt Brewer (Springfield, Ill.), Kevin Koski (Schaumburg, Ill.) and Tyler Norrick (Festus, Mo.) also rank among the nation's best.

Brewer is 24th in doubles per game (20 2B, 0.42 Avg.), Koski is 24th among toughest hitters to strikeout and Norrick is 29th in strikeouts per nine innings (78 Ks, 10.7/9 inn.).

Other Notes
The Salukis had a week off due to final exams and host SDSU in a three-game series as part of graduation weekend.

Pitching wise, the Salukis will stick with their normal weekend rotation of Tyler Norrick (Friday), P.J. Finigan (Saturday) and Bryan Rueger (Sunday).

Finigan and Norrick make their first non-conference starts since the Western Michigan series (Mar. 18-20), while Rueger takes the mound against a non-league foe for the first time since facing Illinois on May 3.

Saluki leadoff man Kevin Koski (Schaumburg, Ill.) extended his hitting streak to 25 games, which currently stands as the longest of any Saluki in 15 years. Koski hit .391 (9-for-23) with four runs scored, two doubles, a triple and six RBI in five games last week.

SIU has won six of its last seven non-conference games, and is 18-10 against teams outside of the MVC this season.

SIU won a series against Wichita State for the first time in school history last weekend.

After falling victim to a complete game shutout by Mike Pelfrey on May 6, the Salukis regrouped to win the last two games of the series by scores of 5-1 and 4-1.

SIU and WSU played each other in a round robin format at the MVC Tournament from 1978-84. The two teams then began series play in 1985, and the Dawgs have never taken a series from the Shockers until this year.

Freshman left fielder Dean Cademartori (Norridge, Ill.) doubled up the Shockers from the outfield on two occasions in SIU's 4-1 win over WSU on May 8.

SIU was up a run in the fourth, where WSU leadoff man Phil Napolitan was at third with one out. Derek Schermerhorn hit a line drive to Cademartori, who caught the ball and gunned down Napolitan at the plate.

Cademartori then gloved a line drive off the bat of Brandon Hall and threw a bullet to get Danny Jackson out at first base for a double play in the seventh inning.

Cademartori also hit .333 (4-for-12) with two runs scored and one RBI on the series against WSU.

WSU manufactured only three runs against SIU's pitching staff over the last 25 innings of the series.

P.J. Finigan (Springfield, Ill.) and Bryan Rueger (Mt. Vernon, Ind.), who each posted dominant complete game, nine-inning wins, gave up a combined two runs (one unearned) and pinned the Shockers to a .131 (8-for-61) batting average. Also, only one reliever saw action out of SIU's bullpen last weekend, while WSU went to its pen five times. Saluki pitchers boasted an impressive 1.33 ERA and only allowed four earned runs in 27 innings against the Shockers.

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