Southern Illinoise University Athletics
SIU at FGCU Invite: Game Notes & Links
02/18/2016 | 12:00:00 | Softball
| SIU (3-2, 0-0 MVC) at FGCU Tournament | |
| Dates | Feb. 19-21, 2016 |
| Location | Fort Myers, Fla. | FGCU Softball Complex | Tournament Central |
| Game 1 | vs. LIU Brooklyn (3-2) | Feb. 19 | 8 a.m. CT | Live Stats |
| Game 2 | vs. Marshall (2-0) | Feb. 19 | 12:30 p.m. CT | Live Stats |
| Game 3 | at Florida Gulf Coast (1-4) | Feb. 20 | 11:15 a.m. CT | Live Stats |
| Game 4 | vs. Hofstra (3-2) | Feb. 21 | 10:15 a.m. CT | Live Stats |
| Previews | SIU Game Notes (PDF) | LIU Brooklyn | Florida Gulf Coast | Hofstra |
| 2015 Stats | Southern Illinois | LIU Brooklyn | Marshall | Florida Gulf Coast | Hofstra |
| Social Media | @SIU_Softball  | @SIU_Softball  | Saluki Softball  |
FOR STARTERS
Saluki Softball heads to Florida Gulf Coast on the second weekend of the season. The Salukis will play four games over three days in Fort Myers, Fla., starting with an 8 a.m. game on Feb. 18 against LIU Brooklyn. SIU will also face Marshall (Feb. 18), Florida Gulf Coast (Feb. 19) and Hofstra (Feb. 20). SIU went 3-2 on opening weekend at the Lion Classic in Hammond, La.
Southern Illinois...
- is 3-2 after five opening weekend games at the Lion Classic in Hammond, La.
- pitched shutouts in all three wins this season. SIU already has more shutouts through five games this year than it did in 48 games last year.
- has a team ERA of 0.90, which leads the MVC by nearly a full run.
- ranks 11th nationally in team ERA (0.90). Brianna Jones was one of just 11 players nation-wide to throw two shutouts on opening weekend.
- pitched three shutouts in the first five games of the season for the sixth time under head coach Kerri Blaylock and the first time since 2006.
- has only allowed one "crooked number" inning (more than one run) in 31 innings pitched.
- has 10 extra-base hits in five games. SIU opponents have just two (both doubles).
- has allowed only four earned runs in five games (31.0 IP).
- has the MVC leader in ERA (0.00, Brianna Jones) and batting average (.667, Hanna Porter) after opening weekend.
- is one win away from 1,200 in program history. SIU is 1,199-742-4 since the program started in 1968.
- went 10-5 at Charlotte West Stadium in 2015, the 34th consecutive season SIU had a winning record at home.
- hosts the 2016 MVC Championships at Charlotte West Stadium.
- is 189-69 (.733) at home in 13 seasons at Charlotte West Stadium.
LION CLASSIC RECAP
SIU opened the season with five games in Hammond, La., at the Lion Classic from Feb. 12-14. The Salukis opened the season with a 3-0 win over UT Martin, with freshman Brianna Jones tossing a complete-game shutout. Jones followed that performance with a second-straight complete-game shutout the following day against Mississippi Valley. Sophomore Savanna Dover threw a complete-game shutout of her own the next day in an 8-0 (5) win over Buffalo.
JONES EARNS MVC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
True freshman pitcher Brianna Jones earned Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week honors after throwing two complete-game shutouts and now allowing a single earned run on opening weekend. Jones threw complete-game shutouts against UT Martin and Mississippi Valley State, joining former Saluki greats Amy Harre and Cassidy Scoggins among SIU pitchers who have started their careers with complete-game shutouts. Jones (2-1, 0.00 ERA) struck out 16 batters in 14 innings and held opponents to a .192 batting average.
BIG-TIME COACHING WEEKEND
SIU Head coach Kerri Blaylock has cemented her place among the best MVC coaches of all-time after winning 565 games in her 17 seasons coaching Southern Illinois. This weekend, three of the four teams SIU faces are coached by fellow 500-win coaches. LIU Brooklyn (Kortmann, 583), Marshall (Stanton, 517) and Florida Gulf Coast (Deiros, 513) join Blaylock (565) in the 500-win club. That's 2,178 wins in the dugouts between four of the coaches involved in SIU games this weekend.
NEWCOMERS STEPPING UP BIG
Southern Illinois has five freshmen in 2016, four of which are eligible to play (Nicole Doyle is recovering from an injury and is expected to return in March). All four made a big immeidate impact. Pitcher Brianna Jones has still yet to allow an earned run in her collegiate career (14.0 IP) and earned MVC Pitcher of the Week honors after throwing two complete-game shutouts. Eyrika Brandenburg started all five games in left field and hit .333. Her first hit was an RBI single that scored SIU's first run of the season. Fellow freshmen Hanna Porter and Hanna Stam both recorded hits in their first career at-bats. Porter was dominant at the plate in her first collegiate weekend, reaching in 6-of-8 trips to the plate, including a three-run home run. Porter leads the MVC in batting average (.667).
SALUKI PITCHING FUELS SUCCESS
From 1987-2007, Southern Illinois had a team ERA under 2.00 18 times and a team ERA under 3.00 all 21 seasons. On the opening weekend of the season, the 2016 pitchers were just as dominant. Freshman Brianna Jones and sophomore Savanna Dover combined to post an 0.90 ERA in 31.0 innings, allowing only four earned runs in five games. Jones pitched two complete-game shutouts, and Dover pitched one. Opponents hit only .183 off the pair (only .175 off Dover), and each of them struck out 16 batters. They only allowed two total extra-base hits (both doubles) in 109 official at-bats. SIU already has more shutouts this year (3) than all of last year (2), and Jones earned MVC Pitcher of the Week after her first collegiate weekend.
HITTING UP AND DOWN THE LINEUP
SIU has 12 hitters on the roster, and 10 recorded at least one hit on opening weekend. All three freshmen have already recorded their first career hits, and the only two players without hits this year have contributed RBIs. Five players have at least four hits this season, and six players are hitting .333 or better. Hanna Porter (.667), Jessica Heese (.444), Sydney Jones (.417) and Jessa Thomas (.400) are all hitting .400 or better, while Shaye Harre (.333) has been dominant in the middle of the order, slugging .800 with a .412 on-base percentage, a double and two home runs.
PATTERSON AND HARRE: PAIR OF POWERFUL JUNIORS
Merri Anne Patterson is coming off an All-MVC season in 2015. Patterson earned All-MVC, MVC All-Defensive Team, MVC Player of the Week (3/23), MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week (3/25) and MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team honors a year ago. Now a junior, Patterson moves over to center field, taking over a long line of stellar SIU center fielders that includes 2012 MVC Player of the Year Mallory Duran-Sellers and 2015 MVC batting champ Kalyn Harker. Patterson has three career game-winning home runs and ranked in the top-10 in the MVC last year in batting average, slugging percentage, total bases, doubles per game and home runs per game. She was outstanding in every aspect last season, hitting .321 with 10 doubles and seven home runs while also being a perfect 7-for-7 stealing bases.
Shaye Harre has started all 105 games in her two-year Saluki career and has already made her mark on the program. Harre has 76 RBIs in her first 2+ seasons, putting her on pace to crack the top-10 in MVC history in that category. She was named All-MVC as a freshman in 2014. She has a .310 career batting average and a .426 career on-base percentage. In addition to hitting, Harre has made an impact pitching, appearing in 38 games over the past two seasons as a pitcher. She beat a ranked UCF team from the circle as a true freshman in 2014 and won a pair of conference games as a pitcher last year for SIU.
COMEBACK KIDS
Southern Illinois came from behind in 11 of its 21 wins last year and won 11 games in its last at bat. SIU overcame five four-run deficits, as well, and played five extra-inning games.
JONES: ONE OF TOP FROSH IN MVC
True freshman Sydney Jones ended her freshman campaign as on of the top freshmen in the MVC. Starting with the third game of her collegiate career, Jones embarked on a 16-game reached base streak, which was the second-best on the team in 2015. She tied for the team lead with seven home runs and was second on the team with 28 RBIs, including a walkoff two-run bomb in the 10th inning to beat Bradley, 10-9, and a go-ahead, game-winning two-run homer in the top of the seventh of an 8-6 win over Morehead State. Behind the plate, she threw out nine would-be base stealers, which ranked third in the league overall.
GONZALEZ SPARKS OFFENSE FROM LEADOFF
Kelsey Gonzalez was moved to the leadoff spot right before conference play started last year, and she immeidately exceled at the role. She has reached in 31 of 38 games (82 percent) batting leadoff, including a 22-game stretch that overlapped the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
Gonzalez hit just .210 as a true freshman in 2013, but she has been among the best hitting shortstops in the MVC over the past two seasons, hitting .306 and piling up 53 runs, 87 hits, 14 doubles and seven home runs. She has started 151 of a possible 156 games in her career while maintaining a 3.96 GPA.
SALUKI SOFTBALL: THE NATION'S MOST WELL-ROUNDED PROGRAM
The Salukis are among the most well-balanced programs in the nation. Under head coach Kerri Blaylock (16 seasons), the Salukis have finished among the top-20 program-wide GPAs 15 times, including eight top-five finishes. This past year (2014-15), the Salukis had a 3.62 team GPA, the fourth-best in all of Division I softball. Under Blaylock, Southern Illinois has won 562 games, three MVC championships and gone to five NCAA Tournaments while finishing with a team GPA among the top-10 in the nation 11 times. SIU's WORST program-wide GPA in Blaylock's 16 seasons is a 3.37 GPA, which was still good for 31st-best GPA of 335 Division I softball teams.
The Salukis have had at least two student-athletes earn first-team MVC Scholar-Athlete team honors for 18 consecutive seasons, and Saluki Softball has the second-most Academic All-Americans of any Division I softball program. Last season, Kalyn Harker became the latest Saluki Softballer to earn first-team Academic All-America honors, and Shaye Harre earned first-team Academic All-District along with Harker, who went on to be a finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year.
Starting in 2004-05, the NCAA started recognizing programs for being among the top 10 percent of their sport for Academic Progress Rate. Southern Illinois and Loyola are the only two MVC schools to earn the honor even once, and the Salukis have earned it seven of the 10 years it has been awarded.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Salukis went 10-5 at Charlotte West Stadium in 2015, the program's 34th-consecutive winning season in home games. SIU's 7-0 start was the fourth-best start at home without a loss since West Stadium was built prior to the 2003 season. 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 189-69 in 13 seasons at Charlotte West Stadium, which includes a 12-7 mark last season.
FOLLOW THE DAWGS
Fans can keep up-to-date on all the latest Saluki Softball information by following the program on its official social media accounts.
- Facebook.com/SalukiSoftball
- Twitter.com/SIU_Softball
- Instagram.com/SIU_Softball
Schedules, scores, press releases and statistics are available on SIUSalukis.com.
| Lineup Quick Notes | ||
| 00 | Sydney Jones | 2016: 5-12 (.417), 2B, RBI...AS FROSH (2015): 28 RBIs (2nd on team)...Started all 48 games...2 game-winning HRs |
| 1 | Merri Anne Patterson | All-MVC & MVC All-Defensive Team (2015)...MVC All-Tournament Team (2014)...Hit .321 last year and career .297 hitter |
| 6 | Savannah Fisher | 2 sac flies in `16...Started 41G in 2015 as frosh...8 of 17 hits in 2015 went for extra bases...MVC Academic Honor Roll (2015) |
| 7 | Kelsey Gonzalez | CAREER: 151 starts, 119 hits, 18 doubles, 8 HRs, .364 OB%...Hit .306 over last 2 seasons (94 starts)...Team captain |
| 9 | Hanna Stam | True freshman...Recorded hit in first collegiate at-bat...142 hits, 143 runs and 92 RBIs in HS career |
| 10 | Caylee Cook | CAREER: 73 games, 37 starts, 18 hits, 4 doubles, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs...Reached in all four games played in 2016 |
| 15 | Nicole Doyle | True freshman, 3-time All-Conference, 2-time conference MVP, 28 career Ws and ERA under 1.00...6 career no-hitters in HS |
| 17 | Eyrika Brandenburg | True freshman...Started all 5G in left field...First hit was SIU's first RBI of the season...Hit .333 opening weekend |
| 20 | Hanna Porter | True freshman...Leads MVC in BA (.667)...Hit 3-run homer vs. Buffalo...Singled in first career at-bat |
| 22 | Brianna Jones | True freshman...Reigning MVC Pitcher of the Week (2 CG SHOs, 0.00 ERA)...Has not allowed earned run in 14.0 innings |
| 23 | Jessica Heese | Hit .444 opening weekend...Hit first triple & first RBIs on opening weekend...Three hits, 2-2 stolen bases in 2015 as freshman |
| 25 | Shaye Harre | Started all 105 games in career...First-team Academic All-District (2015)...Career: .310 batting average, 76 RBIs...Team captain |
| 28 | Taylor Harris | CAREER: 77 games, 28 starts, 12 hits, 2 doubles, HR, 9 RBIs...Stole first career base in 2015...Started 11G in 2015 |
| 32 | Jessa Thomas | Played in 24G and started 21 at C in 2015...Hit .400 at Lion Classic (.500 ob%)...Team captain |
| 59 | Savanna Dover | CG SHO vs. Buffalo...1.65 ERA, 16 K's in 17.0 IP in 2016...Allowed only 3 extra base hits in 27.2 IP in MVC play in 2015 |
| Team | 1,199 program wins...3 shutouts in 2016 (only 2 in 2015)...0.90 team ERA (11th nationally) | |
| HC | Kerri Blaylock | Won 565 games at SIU...Three MVC titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances |
