Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Baseball hosts No. 11 Wichita State this weekend
04/12/2007 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
April 12, 2007
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
Dates: Fri.-Sun., April 13-15, 2007
Series Schedule: Friday, 3 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m., Sunday, 1 p.m., CST.
Site: Abe Martin Field (2,000)
Series History: WSU leads, 79-28
Head Coaches: SIU: Dan Callahan (345-354-1, 164-196-1 MVC/13th Year).
WSU: Gene Stephenson (1,579-519-3, 492-156 MVC/30th Year).
Radio: WCIL 1020 AM and www.siusalukis.com
Livestats: www.siusalukis.com
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday - RHP Jordan Powell (5-4), SIU vs. RHP Travis Banwart (6-2), WSU
Saturday - RHP Cody Adams (8-1), SIU vs. RHP Aaron Shafer (5-2), WSU
Sunday - LHP Shawn Joy (3-1), SIU vs. LHP Rob Musgrave (6-0), WSU
EXPECT GOOD PITCHING THIS WEEKEND
SIU and WSU feature excellent starting pitching this year. The Salukis' conference rotation of Jordan Powell (5-4, 3.40 ERA), Cody Adams (8-1, 2.26 ERA) and Shawn Joy (3-1, 2.06 ERA) are a combined 16-6 with a 2.56 ERA. They go up against the Shockers' patented trio of Travis Banwart (6-2, 1.09 ERA), Aaron Shafer (5-2, 2.53 ERA) and Rob Musgrave (6-0, 2.44 ERA) who are 17-4 with a 1.98 ERA. Banwart leads the Valley with a 1.09 ERA; Shafer (2nd, 63), Banwart (3rd, 62) and Adams (5th, 51) are among the top-five in strikeouts; and Adams (1st, 8), Musgrave (t3rd, 6) and Banwart (t3rd, 6) rank among the top-three conference leaders in wins. WSU leads the nation with a 2.26 ERA through games of April 8.
Wichita State Series Notes in PDF Format
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HAPPY 30TH ANNIVERSARY
This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the 1977 Salukis, the last team to make it to the NCAA College World Series. A total of 50 players/coaches from previous SIU clubs, including the 1974 and 1971 CWS teams, are returning to campus for a special reunion this weekend. Former Saluki coaches Richard "Itchy" Jones and Mark Newman will throw out the ceremonial first pitches of Saturday's game. Members of the 1977 team will also be recognized.
BACK TO BUSINESS
SIU stepped out of league play for three-straight games. The Salukis split a two-game series against Valparaiso last weekend, and beat SE Missouri State, 7-2, in midweek action Tuesday.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING?
SIU has not lost a series to WSU since the league moved to a three-game format in 2005. The Salukis clinched a series win against the Shockers for the first time in school history in 2005. A year later, the 2006 Salukis became the first team to win a series in Wichita. No SIU team has ever posted three consecutive series wins against WSU.
DID YOU KNOW . . .
That if the Salukis take two of three this weekend, they will become only the second Valley team to clinch three-straight series wins against the Shockers? Bradley currently stands as the lone team to have accomplished that feat after winning three of four games versus WSU in 1985, 1986 and 1987.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
The Salukis hold the best home record of any team in the MVC. SIU, which recently had a 10-game home winning streak snapped by Valparaiso on April 7, is 16-2 with five series wins at Abe Martin Field. This year's home start is the best under head coach Dan Callahan. The Dawgs are 58-19 (.753) in Carbondale since 2005.
CALLAHAN GOES FOR 500TH CAREER WIN THIS WEEKEND
Dan Callahan is two wins away from reaching 500 career victories as a NCAA Division I head coach. Callahan is in his 13th year at the Saluki helm. Prior to SIU, he spent six seasons as head coach at Eastern Illinois University. He holds a career record of 498-512-2 in 18 years at the Division I level. Currently, Bradley's Dewey Kalmer Illinois State's Jim Brownlee, Indiana State's Lindsay Meggs, Missouri State's Keith Guttin and Wichita State's Gene Stephenson are the MVC head coaches with 500 or more career wins.
NATIONALLY RANKED
The first official NCAA Division I baseball statistical report was released on Wednesday, April 11. Through games of Apr. 8, SIU ranked 23rd in the nation with a 3.47 ERA. Individually, Mark Kelly is 17th in batting average (.438) and Cody Adams is tied for second in wins (8).
CONFERENCE CALL
SIU won seven of its last nine conference series at home. Both series losses in that stretch came a year ago when it dropped two of three to Bradley and was swept by Evansville. The Salukis own a three-game MVC home winning streak after sweeping Illinois State in the opening weekend of league play.
UNDER 10
SIU has fewer than 10 losses 32 games into a season for the first time in 17 years. SIU's current 23-9 record is the best since the 1990 Salukis started at 27-5.
WHILE ON THE TOPIC
Only 21 out of 293 NCAA Division I baseball schools have fewer than 10 losses through 32 or more games this season. Those teams are Vanderbilt (29-5), South Carolina (26-7), Mississippi State (21-8), Texas A&M (28-7), North Carolina (30-5), Virginia (30-7), Florida State (32-4), Coastal Carolina (28-5), Stetson (27-9), Louisiana-Lafayette (26-7), College of Charleston (25-8), Oregon State (26-7), UC Irvine (24-8), Arizona (28-6), Clemson (23-9), Wichita State (26-8), Missouri (24-9), Southern Illinois (23-9), Texas Christian (24-9), Oklahama State (24-8) and UNC-Charlotte (26-6). The Salukis and Shockers are the only two Valley schools among that group. - Records were updated April 10.
ADAMS NAMED MVC PITCHER-OF-THE-WEEK
Sophomore RHP Cody Adams was named MVC Pitcher-of-the-Week on April 9. A week after suffering his only loss of the season, Adams carved up Valparaiso for a career-high 10 strikeouts and allowed just two hits in a complete game 7-0 shutout Easter Sunday. A native of Viola, Ill., Adams recorded at least one strikeout in every inning, did not allow a walk and retired 13 of his last 14 hitters in the nine-inning gem. He improved to 8-1 on the year.
COMPLETE PACKAGE
Cody Adams, who has gone the distance in two of his last three starts, became the first Saluki pitcher to register 10 or more strikeouts in a game since Tyler Norrick fanned 12 at Bradley on April 8, 2005. Adams has struck out a team-high 51 and walked only 13 in 59.2 innings this season. He leads the league with eight wins and has gone 17.2 consecutive innings without allowing a walk.
QUICK HITS
Friday marks the 108th meeting between SIU and WSU...The Shockers hold a commanding 79-28 lead in the all-time series dating back to 1978...SIU is 13-43 all-time against WSU under head coach Dan Callahan...Callahan's 43 losses against the Shockers are the most he has versus any opponent in the Valley...SIU won each of its last two series against WSU and made some serious history in the process...Prior to 2005, SIU had never beaten the Shockers in a series...Prior to 2006, the Dawgs had never won a series in Wichita...With two wins this weekend, SIU would become only the second team in league history to deal WSU a series loss three years in a row...SIU has won four of its last seven games against WSU...The Shockers, ranked 11th in this week's Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Polls, are the first nationally-ranked team the Dawgs face in 2007...SIU and WSU have met 23 times in Carbondale, 31 times in Wichita and two times in Springfield, Mo., during the Callahan era...Callahan's teams are 5-18 in Carbondale, 8-23 in Wichita and 0-2 in Springfield, Mo., vs. WSU.
INTERESTING STUFF
Mark Kelly ranks second in the Valley in batting average (.440) and RBI (39) this season. Of the league's top-five RBI-leaders, Kelly and Saluki teammate Dean Cademartori (29 RBI) are the only two that don't rank among conference leaders in home runs. Take a look at the comparison:
RBI Leaders
1. Kasey Wahl, UE, 47
2. Mark Kelly, SIU, 39
3. Brett Featherston, UNI, 37
4. Conor Gillaspie, WSU, 32
5. Dean Cademartori, SIU, 29
Home Run Leaders
1. Brett Featherston, UNI, 8
Kasey Wahl, UE, 8
3. Matt Brown, WSU, 6
Nolan Keane, MSU, 6
5. Conor Gillaspie, WSU, and three others, 5
HILLS' HITTING STREAK REACHES 16 GAMES
Junior OF/INF Adam Hills has hit safely in 16-straight games and currently holds one of the longest active hitting streaks in both the MVC and the nation. Hills, who ranks third on the team with a .331 batting average, is 20-for-59 (.339) with 13 runs scored, six doubles and 14 RBI in that stretch. He is one of three first-year SIU players to own a double-digit game hitting streak in 2007. True freshmen Aaron Roberts (14 games, 3/7-3/31) and Michael Finigan (11 games, 3/11-3/30) are the others.
Top-10 Longest MVC Hitting Streaks of 2007
Damon Sublett, Wichita State, 21 games
Mark Kelly, Southern Illinois, 21 games
Jim Viscomi, Evansville, 18 games (active)
Adam Hills, Southern Illinois, 16 games (active)
Chris Schmidt, Indiana State, 15 games
Ryan Curry, Bradley, 14 games
Aaron Roberts, Southern Illinois, 14 games
Ryan Anetsberger, Illinois State, 13 games
Matt Lawson, Missouri State, 12 games
Michael Finigan, Southern Illinois, 11 games
NCAA Division I Active Hitting Streaks (as of 4/11/07)
Marcus Quade, New Mexico State, 29
Dustin Ackley, North Carolina, 27
Brandon Guyer, Virginia, 22
Kwesi Mitchell, NJIT, 22
Erik Huber, Eastern Illinois, 21
Rob Vernon, UNC Asheville, 19
Joe Hulett, McNeese State, 19
Erich Diedrich, Youngstown State, 19
Jim Viscomi, Evansville, 18
Michael Murray, Memphis, 18
Adam Hills, Southern Illinois, 16
Brandon Hicks, Texas A&M, 17
Justin Parker, Wright State, 17
Chance Wheeless, Texas, 15
ON TARGET
Cody Adams (8-1) needs five victories to become SIU's single-season leader in pitching wins. Bob Schroeck (1979), Dick Langdon (1971) and John Susce (1968) are currently SIU's single-season leaders with 12 wins apiece.
APPROACHING 100
With 17 more Ks, Cody Adams (83) will reach 100 career strikeouts in only his second year at SIU. Jake Alley was the last pitcher to record 100 or more strikeouts in his first two seasons as a Saluki. He struck out 131 over the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Adams went without a strikeout for the first time in eight-straight appearances during his only loss of the 2007 campaign against Evansville (Mar. 31).
ADAMS NAMED TO COLLEGE BASEBALL FOUNDATION NATIONAL HONOR ROLL
In addition to being named MVC Pitcher-of-the-Week, Cody Adams was also named to the College Baseball Foundation's National Honor Roll this week. He is the third Saluki to make the CBF's honor roll this season.
DAWGS AMONG TOP-THREE MVC TEAMS IN WINS, BATTING AVERAGE AND ERA
SIU is among the top-three teams in the MVC in wins, batting average and ERA. The Salukis are tied for second in wins (23) and third in both batting average (.301) and ERA (3.36). They trail Wichita State in wins and the Shockers and Evansville in batting average and ERA.
SCOUTING THE SHOCKERS
WSU, ranked second in the MVC Coaches and first in the Baseball America MVC Preseason Polls, comes to Carbondale after winning 13 of its last 16 games. Standing at 27-8 overall, the Shockers are first in the league with a 7-2 mark after posting series wins against Indiana State (3-0), Bradley (2-1) and Creighton (2-1). WSU is the winningest NCAA Division I program in the country over the last 29 years. Under the direction of 30th-year head coach Gene Stephenson, the Shockers won one College World series championship (1989), made seven College World Series appearances, made 24 NCAA Regional appearances, won 17 MVC regular-season titles and clinched 15 MVC Tournament crowns. So far this year, the Shockers own the league's best record on the road at 12-5. Offensively, WSU leads the Valley in batting average (.308), runs scored (236), total bases (542), slugging percentage (.455), hits (367), triples (13), on-base percentage (.392), RBI (209), home runs (32), at-bats (1190), walks (140) and strikeouts (213). Pitching wise, the Shockers are first in earned run average (2.25), strikeouts (298), opposing batting average (.213), fewest earned runs allowed (76), wins (26) and fewest walks allowed (71). WSU has given up no more than two runs in 19 of its 35 games this year. Individually, seven Shockers are hitting over .300. Damon Sublett, a Preseason Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-American, leads that group hitting .375 with 25 runs, five doubles, three triples, two home runs and 24 RBI. WSU is 7-1 in weekend series this season. Its only series loss was at Pepperdine to start the 2007 season.
