Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Baseball voted seventh in MVC Preseason Poll
02/01/2011 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
Feb. 1, 2011
By Jason Clay
SIUSalukis.com
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Southern Illinois baseball team was picked to finish seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll that was released Tuesday.
Junior first baseman Chris Serritella was the lone Saluki named to the Preseason All-Valley team. Serritella hit .374 in 2010 and that is the third highest batting average among all players returning in the MVC.
Head coach Ken Henderson felt the low ranking is a result of his team featuring 19 underclassmen and 15 newcomers. SIU received 25 points in the poll and fell two points behind Missouri State in sixth place.
"I am sure the ranking is a result of our youth and the unknown on our roster," Henderson said. "However, baseball championships are decided on the field, not in a poll, so while these things are fun for the fans, they really don't mean a great deal to us. The expectations of this program and of our players are much higher than this."
Illinois State edged Wichita State as league favorites in the poll. Both schools received four first-place votes, but the Redbirds received five more points than the Shockers.
Evansville (third), Indiana State (fourth) and Creighton (fifth) all came in ahead of Missouri State and Southern. Bradley was picked eighth in the poll.
Southern Illinois returns five starters and 14 letterwinners from its 2010 squad that won 28 contests.
The Salukis will be a very young team, with 19 of its 28 players being underclassmen. Offense will be a strong point for SIU, as the Salukis return their top five hitters from last year's unit that hit a collective .308. Leading the way is Serritella, a first team All-MVC selection in 2010, who ranked in the top five of eight different offensive categories in the Valley last season (.374, 83 H, 64 RBI, 19 2B, 13 HR).
Also returning to the SIU infield are senior Blake Pinnon (.333, 70 H, 16 2B, 45 RBI) and sophomore Austin Montgomery (.319, 43 H, 57 RBI). Senior Chris Murphy (.320, 72 H, 16 2B) and sophomore Nick Johnson (.309, 59 H, 22 RBI) will anchor the Saluki outfield.
Sophomores Cody Forsythe (LHP) and Aaron Snyder (RHP) are Southern's top returning pitchers and along with junior college transfer Cameron Maldonado (RHP), the trio figure to be SIU's weekend starters.
2011 MVC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Illinois State (4) - 58 points
2. Wichita State (4) - 53 points
3. Evansville - 41 points
4. Indiana State - 37
5. Creighton - 35 points
6. Missouri State - 27 points
7. Southern Illinois - 25 points
8. Bradley - 13 points
First-place votes in parenthesis
