Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Baseball opens up season at Louisiana Tech Classic
02/16/2011 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
Feb. 16, 2011
By Jason Clay
SIUSalukis.com
Saluki baseball at the Louisiana Tech Classic: Games 1-3
Game Dates & Times:
Friday, Feb. 18 - 6 p.m. • SIU (0-0) at Louisiana Tech (0-0)
Saturday, Feb. 19 - 2 p.m. • SIU (0-0) vs. Grambling State (0-0)
Sunday, Feb. 20 - 12 p.m. • SIU (0-0) vs. Nicholls State (0-0)
Location: Ruston, La. - J.C. Love Field (3,000)
Radio: None
Live Stats: SIUSalukis.com
Video Streaming: Friday's game is available through LaTechSports.com
Weather Forecast:
Friday - 66 degrees, 30 percent chance of showers
Saturday - 65 degrees, partly cloudy
Sunday - 68 degrees, partly cloudy
Quick Hits
→ The Southern Illinois baseball team opens up its 65th season in program history by playing in the Louisiana Tech Classic, Feb. 18-20, in Ruston, La. The Salukis face La Tech, Grambling State and Nicholls State on opening weekend at J.C. Love Field.
→ SIU sports 19 underclassmen on its 27-man roster and just three seniors. The Salukis welcomed in 13 newcomers in 2011.
→ Southern Illinois was picked to finish seventh in the eight-team Missouri Valley Conference. Last year the Salukis went 28-29 overall and 10-10 in the MVC to tie with Indiana State for third place in the regular season standings.
→ Junior first baseman Chris Serritella was selected to the Preseason All-MVC team. He was a first team All-MVC selection in 2010 when he ranked in the top five of eight different offensive categories in the Valley and he is a .353 career hitter.
→ SIU plays its first 11 games on the road this year and 16 of its first 18 are away from home. In all, the Salukis have 37 road games to just 20 home games. → Interim head coach Ken Henderson leads the Salukis into the 2011 season. Henderson, who is in his 21st year at SIU, was also the interim head coach for the latter half of the 1994 season. That year he led the Salukis to a 12-8 record and guided SIU to a winning season after the team won just 15 of its first 33 games.
→ Southern Illinois returns its top five hitters from the 2010 team that hit a collective .308. That was the highest team batting average since Southern also hit .308 in 1998. Southern's 52 homers in 2010 were the most since hitting 73 in 1998.
→ Junior college transfer Cameron Maldonado is SIU's probable starter for opening day. Maldonado had a 8-4 record, 3.11 ERA and 37 strikeouts against just eight walks last season at Seward County Junior College.
→ After opening weekend, the Salukis play a Tuesday game at UT Martin before heading to Columbia, S.C. to take on South Carolina, Feb. 25-27. South Carolina is the defending national champion.
