Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Salukis meet Racers in midweek clash
03/30/2015 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
| Southern Illinois (5-21, 1-5 MVC) at Murray State (11-17, 7-5 OVC) | |
| Date | Tuesday - Mar. 31 |
| Time | 4:00 p.m (All times Central) |
| Location | Reagan Field - Murray, Ky. |
| Probables | RHP Alex Lesiak (1-1, 7.71 ERA) vs RHP John Lollar (1-2, 6.51 ERA) |
| Video | OVC Digital Network |
| Radio | WVZA 101.5 FM |
| Free Audio | SIUSalukis.com |
| Live Stats | Statbroadcast.com |
| Opponent Stats | Murray State |
| 2015 SIU Stats | Southern Illinois |
| Social Media | @SIU_Baseball |Saluki Athletics |
DUE UP
Southern Illinois travels to Murray, Ky., for a midweek showdown with the Murray Stat Racers. The Salukis are coming a 5-3 win on Sunday against the Bradley Braves. SIU fell to Murray State earlier this season, 3-2, in an extra-inning affair.
TUESDAY'S STARTER
Alex Lesiak takes the mound for Southern against the Racers. The junior college transfer was stellar in his last start against Austin Peay. Lesiak pitched 6.1 innings against the Governors, giving up a pair of runs on eight hits. The RHP had five strikeouts in the game, earning his first career win with SIU.
SCOUTING THE SALUKIS
SIU enters Tuesday with a 5-21 record. Southern is coming off a 1-2 series against Bradley. The Salukis are hitting .233 as a team up to this point in the season. Tyler Rolland has a team best .303 batting average, while Greg Lambert and Chase Slone lead the team with 26 hits each. Jake Hand leads all Salukis with 11 RBI.
MURRAY STATE SERIES NOTES
SIU is 45-18 all-time against Murray State since 1974. Under head coach Ken Henderson, the Salukis are 4-5 against the Racers, including 0-1 this season.
SCOUTING THE RACERS
Murray State comes into the matchup holding an 11-17 record. The Racers are coming off of a three-game sweep of Eastern Illinois that saw them score 34 runs in the series. Offensively, the Racers are hitting .236 as a team. Tyler Lawrence has been their most effective hitter, holding a .273 batting average with a team-high 27 hits and 22 RBI.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Salukis are one of the youngest ball clubs in the MVC, with 26 freshmen and sophomores on the team.
FOR THE GREATER GOOD
Infielders Will Farmer and Chase Slone rank among the best in the MVC in laying down sacrifice bunts. The pair are tied fifth in the conference with four sacrifice bunts apiece.
SCRATH MY BACK AND I'LL SCRATCH YOURS
Not only have Farmer and Slone been effective offensively, defensively the pair have been just as strong. Farmer and Slone have combined for 134 assists this season. Both also rank in the top-10 in MVC in the category (Slone 2nd - 77, Farmer 9th- 57).
WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?
Junior catcher Taylor Martin ranks near the top of the list in the MVC with ten caught stealing. Opposing teams have only stolen 15 bases against Martin.
