Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Baseball heads to Middle Tennessee State
03/12/2007 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
March 12, 2007
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
Dates: Tuesday-Wednesday, Mar. 13-14, 2007
Series Schedule: Tuesday, 3 p.m.;
Wednesday, 3 p.m., CST.
Site: Reese Smith Field (2,600)
Series History: SIU leads, 4-3
Head Coaches: SIU: Dan Callahan (333-350-1/ 13th Year).
MTSU: Steve Peterson (611-483-2/20th Year).
Live Audio Webcast: www.goblueraiders.com
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Tuesday - Shawn Joy, LHP (SIU) vs. Brett Smalley, RHP (MTSU)
Wednesday - Kyle Catto, RHP or Brad Lawrence, RHP (SIU) vs. Tyler Hyde, RHP (MTSU)
HOT DAWGS
SIU is 10-2 in its last 12 games and recently improved to 7-1 at Abe Martin Field. Currently sporting an overall record of 11-5, the Salukis are one of two Missouri Valley Conference teams with 10 or more wins. Wichita State (13-4) is the other. SIU, at one time, came from behind to win seven consecutive games as part of a season-long eight-game winning streak from Feb. 17 to Mar. 3.
ON THE ROAD
The Salukis take to the road after playing eight of their last 10 games in Carbondale. SIU is 2-4 away from home this season, with half of its losses coming in midweek games. The Salukis lost two of three at Stetson (Feb. 9-11), fell to Southern Mississippi (Feb. 16) in Hattiesburg and lost to Murray State (Mar. 7) on the road this year.
KELLY PUSHES HITTING STREAK TO 12 GAMES
Red-hot SIU catcher Mark Kelly kept his hitting streak intact at 12 games when he hit over .600 for the second consecutive week. A native of Hanover Park, Ill., Kelly boasted a .647 (9-for-14) batting average with two doubles, three runs scored, four RBI, a .786 slugging percentage and a .643 on-base percentage in three games. He began the week by going 3-for-5 with two runs, a pair of doubles and three RBI at Murray State (Mar. 7). Three days later, he opened SIU's series vs. Youngstown State by going a perfect 4-for-4 with a run scored. Kelly went on to hit .667 (6-for-9) with a run scored and one RBI in two games against the Penguins. Kelly has seen his batting average jump 156 points, from .314 to a team-high .470, in his last eight games alone. He is the first Saluki to hold a double-digit hitting streak since teammate Kevin Koski hit safely in 11-straight games from April 19 to May 7, 2006. He has collected at least one hit in 15 of 16 games this year.
HEAVY METAL
SIU pounded out a total of 93 hits in its last seven games. The Salukis averaged 13.3 hits per game and registered 16 or more hits three times during that span. SIU boosted its average from .205 to .279 in its last seven games, and is 8-1 when out-hitting opponents this season.
COMEBACK KIDS
SIU has scored first just six times, and is 5-1 when doing so. Even more impressive than that is how the Dawgs have come-from-behind in eight of their 11 victories.
HOME RUN CLUB
Four Salukis have homered through 16 games this season. Dean Cademartori leads the team with two homers, while Adam Hills, Chris Crank and Mark Kelly follow with one apiece. Of the four, Hills, Crank and Kelly homered for the first time in their SIU careers. The Dawgs have hit a home run in five of their last eight games.
NICE WORK
SIU has put its leadoff man on base in an inning 64.3 percent (27 of 42 times) of the time in the last five games. Those runners have come around to score on 14 of 27 occasions. The Salukis are hitting .450 (63-for-140) on the year when their leadoff man gets on base.
SERIES HISTORY
SIU is 4-3 all-time against Middle Tennessee State. The Salukis look to post their third consecutive win against the Blue Raiders. SIU and MTSU met in a three-game series in Carbondale last season, with the Salukis winning each of the last two games of the series by one run.
ABOUT THE BLUE RAIDERS
MTSU fell one game shy of reaching the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row in 2006. The Blue Raiders, who opened Sun Belt Conference play with a 2-1 series win at Troy, enter the week with a 7-9 record. MTSU, which played its last eight games on the road, has put up 11 or more runs and 10 or more hits in three of its last four outings. The Blue Raiders, hitting just under .300 (.299) as a team, have six players hitting .303 or better. Adam Warren tops the team with a .435 batting average. MTSU also averages one home run per game. Pitching wise, the Blue Raiders own a 4.31 ERA as a staff.
