Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Baseball hosts Western Michigan this weekend
03/15/2007 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
March 15, 2007
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
Dates: Friday-Sunday, Mar. 16-18, 2007
Series Schedule: Friday, 2 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m., CST.
Site: Abe Martin Field (2,000)
Series History: WMU leads, 4-2
Head Coaches: SIU: Dan Callahan (334-351-1/ 13th Year).
WMU: Randy Ford (60-53/3rd Year).
Live Stats: www.siusalukis.com
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday - Jordan Powell, RHP (SIU) vs. Ethan Hollingsworth, RHP (WMU)
Saturday - Cody Adams, RHP (SIU) vs. Billy Morrison, RHP (WMU)
Sunday - Shawn Joy, LHP (SIU) vs. Dan Coberly, RHP (WMU)
HOT DAWGS
SIU is 11-3 in its last 14 games. Currently sporting an overall record of 12-6, the Salukis are one of three Missouri Valley Conference teams with double-digit wins. League-leading Wichita State (14-4) and third-place Evansville (11-7) are the others.
HOME SWEET HOME
SIU is a near-perfect 7-1 with three series wins at Abe Martin Field this season. The Salukis are 48-18 (.727) on their home diamond since 2005. SIU swept both Central Michigan (Feb. 23-25) and Youngstown State (Mar. 10-11), and won two of three against Northern Illinois (Mar. 2-4) in Carbondale this year.
KELLY AND ELMENDORF LOOK TO KEEP HITTING STREAKS ALIVE
Mark Kelly and Scott Elmendorf hold the team's longest hitting streaks. Kelly, who is on a 14-game hitting streak, is the Valley's top hitter with a blazing .474 average. Elmendorf, who hit safely in nine-straight games, hits .296. Ironically, Kelly is the first Saluki to hit over .400 through the first 18 games of a season since Elmendorf boasted a .413 clip at this time in 2006.
HEAVY METAL
SIU pounded out a total of 122 hits in its last nine games. The Salukis averaged 13.5 hits per game and registered 15 or more four times during that stretch. SIU has seen its average climb 85 points, from .205 to .290 in its last nine games alone. Not to mention, the Dawgs are 9-1 when out-hitting opponents this season.
COMEBACK KIDS
SIU has scored first just eight times, and is 6-2 when doing so. The Dawgs have come-from-behind in eight of their 12 victories.
KOSKI MISSES MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE SERIES
Kevin Koski did not play in consecutive games for the first time in his SIU career. Koski, who has been day-to-day with a sore hamstring, made 143-straight starts in the Saluki outfield prior to the Middle Tennessee State series (Mar. 13-14). The last time he was out of the starting lineup was in game two of SIU's doubleheader versus Wisconsin-Milwaukee on May 15, 2004. Koski started 187 of 192 games since joining the Dawgs in 2004.
KOSKI AMONG SIU CAREER LEADERS
Kevin Koski ranks among SIU career leaders in hits (5th, 248), at-bats (6th, 757), runs scored (5th, 162) and hit by pitch (t3rd, 26).
KELLY IS ON FIRE Sophomore Mark Kelly, after hitting just .222 in 20 games a year ago, ranks atop the MVC with a sizzling .474 batting average through 18 games this season. A native of Hanover Park, Ill., Kelly has registered multiple-hits in eight of his last nine games, including the last five-straight. He leads the team with 11 multiple-hit (five of which consisted of three or more) and eight multiple-RBI performances.
TOP OF ORDER PRODUCING
The top five hitters in SIU's lineup, consisting of Aaron Roberts, Scott Elmendorf, Adam Hills, Mark Kelly and Dean Cademartori, accounted for 20 of the Salukis' 29 hits against Middle Tennessee State. They went a combined 9-for-26 (.346) with five runs and two RBI in game one and 11-for-21 (.523) with five runs, five RBI and two doubles in game two. That part of the order led SIU to a season-high, two-game total of 29 hits.
TWO-OUT MAGIC
The Salukis did some major damage in two-out situations against the Blue Raiders. In two games, SIU hit .424 (14-for-33) and knocked in nine runs. Tyler Lairson led the way by going a perfect 4-for-4 with a double, triple and four RBI at the bottom of the order. Lairson (5-for-14, 4 RBI, .357 average) and Mark Kelly (11-for-25, 6 RBI, .440 average) are the Salukis' best two-out hitters this season.
HOME RUN CLUB
True freshman Michael Finigan became the fifth different Saluki to hit a home run when he went deep against the Blue Raiders on Mar. 14. Dean Cademartori leads the team with two homers, while Finigan, Adam Hills, Chris Crank and Mark Kelly follow with one apiece. Four of the five, including Finigan, Hills, Crank and Kelly, homered for the first time in their careers. The Dawgs had a home run in six of their last 10 games.
ADAMS GOES FOR SIXTH WIN IN A ROW
True sophomore right-hander Cody Adams is 5-0 after earning a win in each of his starts this season. Adams, who hails from Viola, Ill., tops the MVC in wins, ERA (1.06) and strikeouts (35). A win this weekend will make Adams the first Saluki starting pitcher to begin a season at 6-0 since Cliff McIntosh did it in 1988. McIntosh was part of a Saluki team that went 40-22 overall. He appeared in 12 games and made eight starts.
THE CHASE IS ON
Bob Schroeck (1979), Dick Langdon (1971) and John Susce (1968) are currently SIU's all-time single-season leaders in pitching wins with 12 apiece. Cody Adams will be halfway there if he wins this weekend.
BORN LEADERS
SIU has put its leadoff man on base in an inning 60 percent (36 of 60 times) of the time in the last seven games. Those runners have come around to score on 18 occasions. The Salukis are hitting .456 (72-for-158) on the year when their leadoff man gets on base.
THEM THERE ARE HILLS
After hitting a mere .100 (3-for-30) in the first nine games of his Saluki career, junior Adam Hills has been hot ever since. Hills caught fire for a .500 batting average (19-for-38), nine runs scored, four doubles his first career home run and 12 RBI in his last nine games. He has hit in five different spots of the batting order this season, and enters the week after hitting safely in eight of nine contests.
STRIKEOUT-TO-WALK
Saluki pitchers own an impressive 13:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 18 games this season. SIU and Wichita State hold the league's best strikeout-to-walk ratios thus far. Each are equally impressive, as WSU has struck out 152 and walked 41 in 159 innings, and SIU has fanned 139 and walked 46 in 161.1 innings. Cody Adams (35), Jordan Powell (25) and Kyle Catto (23) have 83 of the Dawgs' Ks this year.
SALUKIS 52ND IN RPI
SIU is 52nd in RPI, according to boydsworld.com. The Salukis were ranked a season-best 45th prior to the Middle Tennessee State series.
MAC ATTACK
Western Michigan is the third Mid-American Conference West Division opponent headed for Carbondale this season. SIU is 5-1 against MAC opponents after sweeping preseason-favorite Central Michigan (Feb. 23-25) and taking two of three from Northern Illinois (Mar. 2-4).
SERIES HISTORY
WMU holds a 4-2 lead in its all-time series against SIU. The Salukis face the Broncos for the second time in three years. SIU lost two of three the first time it played WMU under head coach Dan Callahan in 2005.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
Western Michigan, preseason-picked to finish fourth out of six teams in the MAC's West Division, is on the road for its first 21 games of 2007. The Broncos were rained out in their season-opening series at Austin Peay (Feb. 24-25), but recently went 4-7 during an 11-day trip to Jacksonville, Fla. WMU beat Bethune-Cookman (4-3), Florida A&M (10-2), Connecticut (11-3) and UNC Greensboro (5-1) at the Kennel Club Classic. The Broncos have been limited to just nine runs in their last four games and carry a two-game losing streak to Abe Martin Field this weekend. WMU is averaging five runs per game, and has plated a total of 56 in 11 games. Pitching wise, the Broncos own a 5.40 ERA. Starting pitchers Ethan Hollingsworth (Friday) and Dan Coberly (Sunday) boast 1.54 and 1.00 ERAs, respectively. Coberly collected MAC West Pitcher of the Week honors on March 13, after earning wins in both of his appearances in Florida. Against UConn on March 8, he posted a career and season-high nine strikeouts. Coberly has allowed just one extra-base hit.
