Softball releases 2017 schedule

Printable Schedule

CARBONDALE, ILL. – The Southern Illinois softball team announced their 2017 schedule Tuesday, Nov. 1. SIU will play in five different tournaments, including the Coach B Classic.

The Salukis will play a total of 15 teams that ended last season inside the top-150, with eight of those 15 having finished inside the top-100. Of those 15, four teams came from the MVC led by the reigning MVC Champions in Wichita State, who ended last season ranked No. 43 in the country.

SIU opens the season in Louisiana for the Southeast Louisiana Tournament Feb. 10-12. They will play Nevada, Coppin St., Nicholls St., Mississippi Valley State, and Army during the two-day affair.

From there the Salukis head to the beaches of Florida for Eastern Michigan's Spring Tournament (Feb. 17-19), followed by a weekend in Starkville, Mississippi (Feb. 24-26). The team will play a total of nine games over the two weekends.

"Every year you try to schedule to where you give yourself a shot to get RPI points and maybe get an at large bid," SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "We have taken into consideration how young the team is and I've tried to balance the schedule out between some SEC and some Big Ten type opponents, along with some really good mid-major programs."

When March rolls around the Salukis come home for the annual Coach B Classic and will play host to Western Illinois, University of Illinois-Chicago, Northern Illinois, and Murray State. The tournament will take place at Charlotte West Stadium and beginning on March 4.

SIU will play in its final tournament of the year March 10-12 out in Las Vegas. The Salukis will square off with UNLV, New Mexico State, DePaul, and Portland State over the two-day stretch. Directly following the tournament SIU will face Southern Utah for a weekday matchup on March 14 before returning home to start their conference season with a three-game series with Bradley.

"We really try to get the team ready for conference play. We have Bradley followed by Drake right off the bat. You want to get on the road and get your kids tested. You want to give all your pitchers time to get comfortable. Preseason helps us decide how certain players fit in certain positions, that way we know what we have going into conference play," Blaylock said.

The Salukis will next duke it out with SIUE for a weekday matchup (March 29) before going to Normal, Illinois for their first road test in the Missouri Valley Conference. Their matchup with Illinois State is the beginning of four straight weeks of conference play on the road as Northern Iowa (April 8-9), Loyola (April 14-15), and Evansville (April 25) are next on the docket.

SIU comes home on April 22-23 to face Wichita State for a three-game set, followed by a weekend in Terre Haute, Indiana with the Sycamores (April 29-30), before wrapping up the regular season at home against Missouri State (May 6-7).

"The thing about our conference is that we feel it's a dog fight every weekend out," Blaylock said. "No matter who we play. You've got different style of opponents throughout the conference that you're going to face and we have a pitching staff, key returners, and a great freshman class that puts us in a position to really compete. Our goal every year is to win the whole thing. I think if you think any other way you aren't doing what you're supposed to."

Illinois State will host the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, beginning March 11. The MVC Championship game is set for March 13.

SIU completed last season with 33 wins, a 15-10 record in conference play, and ranked at No. 106 in the final NCAA poll. Six positional players return, as does SIU's entire pitching staff from a year ago.

"We have great veteran leadership in the senior and junior class," Blaylock said. "Our fall season was very good and the kids are really dialed in right now. The offseason work we are currently putting is as good as it ever has been. This team is very focused. It's probably the most focused of a team I've had since 2007. It's a group that knows what they want."

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Softball releases 2017 schedule

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