Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Baseball hits the road to face Bradley this weekend
04/19/2007 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
April 19, 2007
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
Dates: Fri.-Sun., April 20-22, 2007
Series Schedule: Friday, 6 p.m.; Saturday, 6 p.m., Sunday, 1 p.m., CST.
Site: O'Brien Field (7,500)
Series History: SIU leads 68-59-1
Head Coaches: SIU: Dan Callahan (345-358-1, 164-199-1 MVC/13th Year).
BU: Dewey Kalmer (802-738-4, 239-259-1/28th Year).
Radio: www.siusalukis.com (Fri., Sat.); WCIL 1020 AM and www.siusalukis.com (Sun.)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday - RHP Jordan Powell (5-5), SIU vs. RHP Michael Christl (1-5), BU
Saturday - RHP Cody Adams (8-2), SIU vs. RHP Collin Brennan (1-4), BU
Sunday - LHP Shawn Joy (3-1), SIU vs. RHP Chris Wright (2-1), BU
DAWGS FALL TO FIFTH IN VALLEY STANDINGS
SIU, which is 4-5 through nine league games, entered its Wichita State series as the MVC's second-place team. However, the Salukis fell to fifth in the standings after being swept by the Shockers at home. SIU looks to regroup when it visits BU this weekend. The Braves are tied with Indiana State for last place in the Valley. Each are 2-7 in conference play.
SIU IN PEORIA
The Dawgs dropped three of their last four series to the Braves in Peoria. SIU has posted two series wins (1995 - 3-1; 2003 - 3-1) in six trips there under head coach Dan Callahan. The Salukis last visited O'Brien Field in 2005, where all three games of that series were decided by a run -- BU won, 2-1; SIU won, 2-1; BU won, 4-3.
UNDER .500
After losing five of six league games, SIU is under .500 in Valley play for the first time in 2007. Saluki pitchers have allowed an average of 11 runs per game in that span. SIU has been outscored, 66-30, and run-ruled three times against its last two conference opponents (Evansville and Wichita State).
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 498-516-2 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.
SINGLED OUT
The Salukis registered a total of 33 hits over their last three conference games, 29 of which were singles. Only 22 percent (85 of 384) of SIU's hits have gone for extra bases through 36 games this season.
79 AND COUNTING
Kevin Koski has made 79 consecutive MVC starts in the Saluki outfield. A native of Schaumburg, Ill., Koski missed only one start in a total of 89 conference games. The only time he did not make a league start was in game one of a doubleheader against Evansville on April 10, 2004.
HITS RECORD IN REACH FOR KOSKI
Kevin Koski is on track to become SIU's all-time career leader in hits. He ranks third with 261 behind Joe Schley (286 hits, 1996-99) and Dave Wrona (285, 1987-90). Koski, who is SIU's all-time single-season hits leader (92 in 2005), needs 26 to break the all-time mark. He has 35 so far this season.
MORE ON KOSKI
One of the most exciting leadoff hitters in the MVC, Kevin Koski has started 202 of 207 games throughout his Saluki career. He holds a batting average of .320 (261-for-815) with 174 runs, 35 doubles, six triples a home run, 89 RBI, a .406 on-base percentage and 50 stolen bases in over three years wearing a Saluki uniform. Koski ranks among SIU career leaders in hits (3rd, 261), games played (207, t9th), at-bats (4th, 815), runs scored (3rd, 174), hit by pitch (2nd, 30) and total bases (t10th, 311).
ROBERTS IS ROLLING
True freshman outfielder Aaron Roberts hit .556 in four games for the Salukis last week. Roberts, who hails from Chatham, Ill., went 10-for-18 with 10 runs, a .556 slugging percentage and .579 on-base percentage. He recorded multiple-hits in each of those contests and enters this weekend on an eight-game hitting streak. Roberts, who ranks second on the team with a .385 batting average, is eighth in the conference with a .410 clip in league games alone. He is the only true freshman ranked among the top-10 conference-game-only hitting leaders.
ROOKIES PRODUCING
Positionally, four first-players have been in the lineup 22 or more times this season. True freshmen Aaron Roberts, Michael Finigan and Tyler Choate, along with junior Adam Hills make up that group. Roberts (OF, .385) and Hills (OF/INF .346) are second and third on the team in hitting. Finigan is sixth with a .286 average in 34 starts at shortstop. Choate, a two-way guy, hit .257 in 22 games, including 18 at first base. He is also 2-1 in 12 appearances and four starts on the mound. Additionally, junior left-hander Shawn Joy holds a 3-1 record and 2.67 ERA as the Salukis' Sunday starter.
MIGHTY OFFENSIVE
SIU matched a league series high when it pounded out 33 hits against Wichita State last week. The Salukis tagged the Shockers' starting rotation of Travis Banwart (6), Aaron Shafer (4) and Rob Musgrave (6) for 16 earned runs. SIU gave all three of those starters an early exit, as neither worked more than 5.1 innings. The Salukis also became the first team to score an earned run against Shocker All-American and 2006 MVC Player-of-the-Year Damon Sublett. Sublett has now been touched for only two earned runs in 35.1 career innings. WSU also led the nation in ERA (2.28) and Banwart had given up just seven earned runs in nine starts prior to last week.
NATIONALLY RANKED
SIU fell out of the national rankings in ERA this week. Individually, Mark Kelly is 11th in batting average (.442) and 23rd in RBI per game (1.26 avg.). Pitching wise, Cody Adams is tied for seventh in wins (8).
SERIES TALK
The Salukis, after dropping back-to-back league sets against Evansville (Mar. 30-Apr. 1) and Wichita State (Apr. 14-15), look to get back on track in Peoria this weekend. SIU has lost three-straight MVC series on the road. The last time the Salukis won a conference set away from home was at Missouri State (2-1) a year ago.
APPROACHING 100
With 10 more Ks, Cody Adams (90) 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.
QUICK HITS
SIU and BU meet for the 129th time Friday...The Salukis and Braves first started playing each other in 1952...SIU is currently 5-1 against Illinois teams after posting series wins against Northern Illinois (2-1) and Illinois State (3-0) in Carbondale...The Salukis are on a season-long four-game losing streak...The last time SIU headed to BU on a losing streak of four or more games was in 2001...That year, the Salukis ended a seven-game skid when they beat the Braves in the series finale...Dan Callahan is 24-20-1 against BU as Southern's head coach...That record includes a 10-12 mark in Peoria...SIU has lost five of its last eight games versus the Braves.
KELLY HAVING A BANNER YEAR
Catching appeared to be SIU's biggest question mark entering the 2007 season, but sophomore Mark Kelly has assumed the starting role in impressive fashion. A native of Hanover Park, Ill., Kelly is tied atop the Valley in batting average (.434), ranks first in hits (66) and is second in RBI (47). He leads the Dawgs in seven offensive categories, including batting average, at-bats (152), hits, RBI, slugging percentage (.533), on-base percentage (.464) and total bases (81). Kelly also leads the team in multiple-hit (20) and multiple-RBI (14) performances, and, at one time, held the Valley's longest hitting streak of the season at 21 games (Feb. 9-Mar. 28).
ABOUT THE BRAVES
BU has lost all three of its MVC series in 2007. The Braves, after being swept by Creighton (Apr. 13-15), won three in a row, beating Illinois Tech, 7-0, Tuesday, and Chicago State, 6-2, 3-2, Wednesday. BU is fourth in the league in hitting (.288), seventh in pitching (4.61 ERA) and fifth in fielding (.965). The Braves' starting rotation of Michael Christl (1-5), Collin Brennan (1-4) and Chris Wright (2-1) are a combined 4-10 with a 5.38 ERA. Those three have been charged with 73 of the Braves' 131 earned runs. Offensively, Ryan Curry tops the Braves, hitting .419 with a team-high 17 doubles and 32 RBI. He boasts a .620 slugging percentage and .451 on-base percentage, as well. BU's two Valley wins were decided by a run and came in a week's time -- beat Wichita State, 6-5, in game three of series on Apr. 1; beat Missouri State, 9-8, in game three of series on Apr. 8.
