Baseball set to open season at North Florida
02/16/2012 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
Feb. 16, 2012
By Scott Gierman
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois baseball team begins its 66th season in program history with its first ever meeting with the University of North Florida Ospreys, Feb. 17-19, in Jacksonville, Fla.
SERIES INFORMATION
Date: Friday, Feb. 17 through Sunday, Feb. 19
Time: Fri.-5 p.m. CST, Sat.-noon CST, Sun.-noon CST
Location: Jacksonville, Fla.
Site: Harmon Stadium (1,000)
Audio: None
Video: Streaming on ASun.TV
PRE-SEASON POLL The Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll ranked SIU sixth in the eight-team league. In 2011 the Salukis were picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll and finished the regular season in fifth place.
ALL-MVC First baseman Chris Serritella and outfielder Jordan Sivertsen were both named to the MVC Preseason All-Conference Team. Serritella, a redshirt junior, was First Team All-MVC in 2010 when he hit .374 with 13 home runs and 64 RBIs. He missed all of 2011 with a wrist injury. Sivertsen was Second Team All-MVC in 2011 when he hit .297 with nine home runs and 48 RBIs. Friday's starting pitcher, Cody Forsythe, was voted First Team All-MVC following the 2011 season.
ABOUT THE OSPREYS UNF returns 17 of 26 letterwinners from its 2011 team, which finished 27-27 overall. The Ospreys finished in eighth place in the Atlantic Sun with a 13-17 conference mark. This year's team is picked to finish seventh in the A-Sun Preseason Poll. The Ospreys return their top two hitters. Senior first baseman Andrew Karmeris lead the team with a .357 average, 11 home runs and 43 RBIs in 2011, and sophomore outfielder Alex Bacon hit .352 with nine home runs and 42 RBIs. Bacon was joined by Friday's starter Tyler Moore on the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Team last season.
OPENING DAY STARTER Junior Cody Forsythe is the Dawgs probable opening day starter. He is coming off a breakout sophomore season in which he became the first Saluki pitcher to garner First Team All-MVC honors since 2005. His 2.35 ERA and 103.1 innings pitched ranked second in the conference.
THE BOYS ARE BACK SIU only lost four players from last year's team and has 22 letterwinners returning. The Dawgs have also added nine newcomers. Centerfielder Chris Murphy and starting pitcher Andrew Bever are the only starters gone from last year. Eight of nine starting position players return for the Salukis this season. SIU returns 75 percent of its runs and 75 percent of its hits from 2011. In addition, Chris Serritella returns to first base after taking a medical redshirt in 2011 with a wrist injury.
HEAD COACH This series will be Ken Henderson's first as head coach of the Saluki program since the interim tag was removed from his title following the 2011 season. Henderson is entering his 22nd season as a member of the SIU coaching staff. He was an assistant coach for the 1991 and 1992 seasons before being promoted to associate head coach in 1993. He held that title until he was named interim head coach prior to the 2011 season following the passing of Head Coach Dan Callahan.
INJURY REPORT Reliever Lee Weld missed all of last season after having shoulder surgery on January 6, 2011. He is expected to return sometime in the middle of this season.
ROAD TRIP For the fourth year in a row, the Salukis open the season on the road. SIU has opened the season at home just once since the 1999 season. The Dawgs will begin this year with 11 road or neutral site games before beginning a stretch of 14 consecutive home games on March 6. Last season the Dawgs were 18-21 in games on the road or at a neutral site.
DRAFT PROSPECT Redshirt junior first baseman Chris Serritella was ranked the eighth best first baseman in all of college baseball in Perfect Game USA's Preseason Power Rankings. Despite missing last season with an injury, he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 31st round (936th overall) of the 2011 MLB Draft but decided to return to school.
SATURDAY/SUNDAY PROBABLES Senior Cameron Maldonado is expected to make the start on Saturday, and lefty junior Nathan Dorris is scheduled to start Sunday's game. Maldonado went 5-7 with a 6.19 ERA in 15 starts last season, his first with the Salukis. He tied for the team lead with 69 strikeouts in 80 innings. Dorris will make his debut with SIU. A native of nearby Marion, Ill., he made eight starts for Rend Lake Community College in 2011. He posted a 5-3 record and a 3.66 ERA. He struck out 48 batters in 46.2 innings.
BULLPEN NOTES The Salukis return five pitchers who recorded at least one save last season. Todd Eaton and Tyler Dray are the leading cadidates to pitch the late innings until Lee Weld's return. Eaton only allowed a run in two of his final 11 appearances in 2011. Dray recorded eight saves and was named to the 2011 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Team.
