Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern hosts SIUE on Wednesday
03/31/2015 | 12:00:00 | Softball
| SIU (11-14-1) vs. SIU Edwardsville (27-6) | |
| Date | April 1, 2015 | 4 p.m. CT |
| Location | Carbondale, Ill. | Charlotte West Stadium (502) | Tickets | Weather |
| Follow Along | StatBroadcast | GameTracker | Video Stream ($) | Free Audio (Bryce Williams pbp) |
| Promotion | Dollar Dawg Night -- $1 hot dog with purchase of a large drink |
| Statistics | Southern Illinois | SIUE | MVC |
| Series History | SIU leads 36-7 | SIUE W1 |
| Social Media | @SIU_Softball  | @SIU_Softball  | Saluki Softball  |
FOR STARTERS
Southern Illinois hosts SIU Edwardsville in a mid-week contest on Wednesday at Charlotte West Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. SIU and SIUE were scheduled to play last season, but it was rained out. In 2013, the Cougars won 6-4 in 12 innings. The Salukis are 0-2 so far this season in mid-week games, dropping a one-run game to Lipscomb and a two-run game at Murray State.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
SIUE comes to Carbondale riding a 10-game winning streak and with a 27-6 overall record. The Cougars' team ERA is 1.99, which ranks 15th nationally. Haley Chambers (16-3) has a 1.54 ERA in 127.1 innings and Baylee Douglass has a 1.71 ERA in 78 innings. Chambers, who averaged 10.01 strikeouts per seven innings, was named National Pitcher of the Week earlier this season after throwing a perfect game with 20 strikeouts (of 21 batters), and Douglass was just named the OVC Pitcher of the Week after this past weekend. Chambers is also a leading hitter, batting .370 with 25 RBIs. Rebecca Gray (.396), Jordan Lafave (.337), Alex McDavid (.316) and Rachel Keller (.315) all hit better than .300.
PATTERSON SWEET SWINGING
Sophomore Merri Anne Patterson has been one of Southern's hottest hitters over the last nine games. She has hit in eight of those nine games, and all four of her home runs this season have come in that span. She hit the game-winning home run in a 4-3 win over Wichita State in the opener, and then hit a walk-off shot against the Shockers in game three, earning MVC Player of the Week honors after that weekend. She's hitting .444 (12-for-27) with a .926 slugging percentage and nine RBIs while playing error-free ball in the outfield.
HARKER HOT HITTING
Senior Kalyn Harker has been the only SIU hitter hotter than Patterson over that nine-game stretch. She's hitting .520 in the last nine games while slugging .600, stealing two bases, and putting down four perfect sacrifices. After nine MVC games, Harker is hitting .480 in Valley play, which ranks third in the conference (Patterson at .440 is fifth).
BERTELSEN'S WIN TOTAL TOPS IN MVC
Katie Bertelsen has been Southern's ace all season. With nine wins already this year, Bertelsen leads the league--and her six wins in Valley games also leads the league. By earning the win in all three games against Wichita State, Bertelsen became the eighth player in program history with 40 career wins at SIU. She also has proven herself as a relief pitcher in her career; her 12 career saves rank fourth among active Division I players.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Salukis are a perfect 6-0 at Charlotte West Stadium in 2015. Southern played its first 16 games away from Carbondale, going 5-10-1. The next six games were at home, and SIU won them all to go over the .500 mark for the first time this year at 11-10-1 after the Wichtia State series. SIU is 185-64 in 11+ seasons at Charlotte West Stadium, which includes a 12-7 mark last season. Southern has a winning record in all 11 seasons it has played at West Stadium; with 10 home games remaining on the home schedule this season, SIU is just three home wins away from extending that streak to 12.
