Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Under Armour Invite: Notes & Links
03/10/2016 | 12:00:00 | Softball
| SIU (9-7) at USF UnderArmour Invitational | |
| Dates | March 11-13, 2016 |
| Location | Clearwater, Fla. | Weather |
| Teams | Southern Illinois (9-7) | North Florida (8-12) | Iona (1-4) | Hartford (1-12) | East Carolina (13-10) | Butler (8-9) |
| Game 1 | vs. North Florida | March 11 | 3:30 p.m. CT | Live Stats |
| Game 2 | vs. Iona | March 11 | 5:45 p.m. CT | Live Stats |
| Game 3 | vs. Hartford | March 12 | 10:30 a.m. CT | Live Stats |
| Game 4 | vs. East Carolina | March 12 | 3:15 p.m. CT | Live Stats |
| Game 5 | vs. Butler | March 13 | 8 a.m. CT | Live Stats |
| Game Notes | SIU Game Notes (PDF) |
| 2016 Stats | Southern Illinois | North Florida | Iona | Hartford | East Carolina | Butler |
| Social Media | @SIU_Softball  | @SIU_Softball  | Saluki Softball  |
FOR STARTERS
Saluki Softball heads to Clearwater, Fla., for a five-game tournament at the USF UnderArmour Invitational. The Salukis play five different teams in three days, starting with North Florida (3:30 p.m. CT) and Iona (5:45 p.m. CT) on Friday, March 11. The Salukis face Hartford (10:30 a.m. CT) and East Carolina (3:15 p.m. CT) on Saturday before closing the tournament against Butler at 8 a.m. CT on Sunday. The Salukis have already played Butler twice this season, splitting two games with the Bulldogs last weekend at the Coach B Classic.
Southern Illinois...
- is 9-7 after three weekends. SIU went 3-2 on opening weekend (Lion Classic), 2-1 the next weekend (FGCU Invitational) and 2-2 on each of the last two weekends (Stetson Invitational and Coach B Classic).
- pitched six shutouts this season. SIU already has the most shutouts since 2011 (13), and the season is only 16 games old.
- has only allowed only three home run in 99.2 innings pitched. SIU allowed 53 home runs last year (about one every six innings).
- is out-homering opponents 15-3 this season.
- leads the MVC in home runs per game with 15 home runs in 16 games.
- has played a challenging schedule. SIU's seven losses are against teams who have gone a combined 89-58, for a .605 winning percentage. Six of SIU's seven losses have come to teams that are at least three games above .500.
- 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 191-71 (.729) at home in its 14th seasons at Charlotte West Stadium.
NON-CONFERENCE COMPARISON SHOWS SIU IMPROVEMENT IN 2016
The Salukis are dramatically improved from last year's 21-26-1 team, and the statistics back that up. Last year's team went 6-15-1 in non-conference games, and this year's team already has nine wins. In six fewer non-conference games so far this year, SIU has already exceeded last year's total of wins (by 3), runs, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases and strikeouts. In addition, this year's team has a higher fielding percentage, higher batting average (by .053 points), higher slugging percentage (by .110), higher on-base percentage, lower ERA (by more than a full run), and lower opposing batting average (.314 vs. .244).
Brianna Jones LEADS THE NATION IN SHUTOUTS
True freshman pitcher Brianna Jones started her career with a bang, throwing complete-game shutouts in each of her first three starts. Jones leads the nation in shutouts with five, and no one else in the country has more than four. She opened her career with a 3-0 shutout win over regional rival UT Martin, then followed it up with another shutout the next day vs. Mississippi Valley State. After the two shutouts at the Lion Classic, Jones earned MVC Pitcher of the Week honors in her first week eligible for the award. A week later, Jones threw another one, this time a 9-0 win over LIU Brooklyn. In total, Jones didn't allow an earned run in the first 22.2 innings of her career. Jones again threw back-to-back shutouts at the Stetson Invitational and earned MVC Pitcher and Newcomer of the Week honors. Jones nearly threw another shutout against Butler, but SIU wisely exchanged a run for an out on a safety squeeze with a big lead in an 11-1 five-inning win.
Jones has allowed six runs twice this season. Outside of those two starts, Jones has an 0.32 ERA in 44.0 innings, with five shutouts in 10 appearances.
Caylee Cook IN MIDST OF BREAKOUT SENIOR SEASON
SIU senior Caylee Cook has become a middle of the order force for the Salukis in her senior season. In only 16 games this year, Cook has already set career highs for hits, doubles, and RBIs in a season. Her first five RBIs of the season came with two outs, and her 2016 slugging percentage is in the .400s. To add to it, she stole the first two bases of her career this year.
Sydney Jones: BUILDING ON OUTSTANDING FRESHMAN SEASON
Sydney Jones is hitting .381 this season after a 5-for-10 weekend at the Coach B Classic. Jones started the season with a 2-for-3 game and her batting average hasn't dipped below .300 at any point this season. She hasn't gone more than two games in a row without a hit, and she has six multi-hit games already in the 16 games this season.
In an outstanding freshman season, Jones led the team with seven home runs and was second on the team with 28 RBIs. This year, she has added patience at the plate. Her 12 walks in 16 games this season already nearly match her 2015 total of 13 walks in 48 games. This year, Jones leads the team with a .536 on-base percentage. She also splits time at catcher, where she has a dangerous arm. She threw out nine would-be base stealers last year and has already caught five more this year.
Shaye Harre: MIDDLE OF THE ORDER MONSTER
Southern Illinois junior first baseman Shaye Harre is one of the best hitters in the MVC. She has started all 116 games in her career and hit in the middle of the order since her first game of freshman year. Not even halfway through her junior season, Harre has collected 106 hits (.319 career hitter), 21 doubles, 14 home runs and 88 RBIs.
In just 16 games this season, Harre already has 17 hits, including three doubles and four home runs, and she has scored 13 runs while gathering 15 RBIs. Her on-base percentage is .500 and her slugging percentage is .727. Six of her 16 games this year have been multi-hit games, and four have been multi-RBI games.
HITTING UP AND DOWN THE LINEUP
Southern's entire order has been productive this year and done damage with power. SIU has 38 extra-base hits this year (more than twice as many as its opponents) without any one player having more than seven. Nine hitters have multiple extra-base hits. Ten have at least one double and 12 have multiple RBIs. Last weekend, Southern hit seven home runs in four games at the Coach B Classic, and all seven came from different people.
Four players are hitting .346 or better, led by Shaye Harre (.386) and Sydney Jones (.381). Freshmen Hanna Porter (.364) and Eyrika Brandenburg (.346) have also made big impacts early. Nine players have slugging percentages north of .345, and Porter (.818), Harre (.727) and Jones (.619) are all slugging better than .600.
NEWCOMERS STEPPING UP BIG
Southern Illinois has five freshmen in 2016, and all five made a big immediate impact. Pitcher Brianna Jones opened her career with five shutouts in her first six starts and earned MVC Pitcher of the Week honors twice in the first three weeks of the season. Eyrika Brandenburg started all 16 games in left field and is hitting .346. 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 has been an immediate-impact power bat in the middle of the order, hitting three home runs and a double in 22 at-bats for a team-leading .818 slugging percentage. The four of them have a combined 42 starts this season. Nicole Doyle played for the first time in 2016 last weekend, striking out three in her debut. Doyle tore an ACL in June and is cleared to play.
SALUKI PITCHING FUELS SUCCESS
From 1987-2007, Southern Illinois had a team ERA under 3.00 all 21 seasons. This year, SIU already has the most shutouts this year (6) since 2011 (13). Brianna Jones has earned MVC Pitcher of the Week honors twice after throwing a nation-leading five shutouts through four weeks. The pitching staff of Jones, Savanna Dover and Nicole Doyle has only allowed three home runs in 99.2 innings; and two of those homers came from the same EIU batter in the same game, which SIU won. Last year, the Salukis allowed a home run, on average, about every six innings. This year, it's one home run allowed every 33 innings. Opponents are hitting .244 this year, compared to .314 last year in non-conference play, and the pitchers are averaging about twice as many strikeouts per game.
GONZALEZ SPARKS OFFENSE
Kelsey Gonzalez enters his fourth year as a starter at shortstop for the Saluki Softball team. In addition to being one of the best defensive shortstops in the MVC over that span, she also has been a pivotal bat in the lineup.
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 .300 and piling up 66 runs, 100 hits, 15 doubles and eight home runs. She has started 162 of a possible 167 games in her career while maintaining a 3.96 GPA.
MERRI ANNE PATTERSON BREAKS OUT
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.
Patterson started slowly this season just 2-for-20. But she broke out in a big way recently. In her last nine games, Patterson is hitting .269 with two doubles, two home runs and five RBIs, which is second on the team in that span. She is slugging .577 and has three walks while going a perfect 4-for-4 stealing bases.
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.
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. SIU already has two come-from-behind win in 2016, beating Marshall and Eastern Illinois 8-6 after early 2-0 deficits. The Salukis nearly overcame a five-run deficit against Florida Gulf Coast, stranding the tying run on third in the bottom of the seventh.
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.
JONES EARNS MVC PITCHER OF THE WEEK TWICE
True freshman pitcher Brianna Jones earned Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week honors twice this season. After throwing two complete-game shutouts and not allowing a single earned run on opening weekend, Jones earned the honor in her first week eligible for the award. 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 in the week) struck out 16 batters in 14 innings and held opponents to a .192 batting average. She threw two more complete-game shutouts two weekends later at the Stetson Invitational, securing a 10-0 win over Providence and a 4-0 win over Colgate.
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: 16-42 (.381), .536 OB%...AS FROSH (2015): 28 RBIs (2nd on team)...Started all 64 career games...2 game-winning HRs |
| 1 | Merri Anne Patterson | All-MVC & MVC All-Defensive Team (2015)...MVC All-Tournament Team (2014)...Hitting .269, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBIs in last 9G |
| 6 | Savannah Fisher | Started season 0-14; Since: 7-23 (.303), 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBIs, 7R, 2 SB, .609 SLG%...MVC Academic Honor Roll (2015) |
| 7 | Kelsey Gonzalez | CAREER: 162 starts, 129 hits, 19 doubles, 9 HRs, .367 OB%...Hit .300 over last 2+ seasons (110 starts)...Team captain |
| 9 | Hanna Stam | True freshman...Recorded hit in first collegiate at-bat...Hitting 6-for-26 with 3 RBIs...OB% is .310...9 starts |
| 10 | Caylee Cook | CAREER: 83 games, 46 starts, 24 hits, 6 doubles, 3 HRs, 17 RBIs...Already career bests in hits, doubles & RBIs |
| 15 | Nicole Doyle | True freshman...Saw first action last weekend (injury)...HS: 2-time conference MVP, ERA under 1.00 & 6 career no-hitters |
| 17 | Eyrika Brandenburg | True freshman...Started all 16G in left field...First hit was SIU's first RBI of the season...Hitting .346...3 doubles, 2 triples |
| 20 | Hanna Porter | True freshman...Hitting .364...Team-best .818 SLG%...Three home runs, 7 RBIs...Singled in first career at-bat. |
| 22 | Brianna Jones | True freshman...National leader w/ 5 shutouts...2-time MVC Pitcher of the Week (2/15 & 2/29)...1.85 ERA (5th in MVC) |
| 23 | Jessica Heese | .304 batting average...Hit first 3B & first RBIs on opening weekend...Already twice as many hits as last year |
| 25 | Shaye Harre | Started all 116 career G...First-team Academic All-District (`15)...Career: .319 batting average, 88 RBIs...Team captain |
| 28 | Taylor Harris | CAREER: 85 games, 28 starts, 12 hits, 2 doubles, HR, 9 RBIs...2-2 on stolen bases in 2016, 6 runs scored |
| 32 | Jessa Thomas | CAREER: 41 games, 36 starts at catcher...3 doubles and 6 RBIs last year...2-13, R, RBI in 7 starts this year...Team captain |
| 59 | Savanna Dover | CG SHO vs. Buffalo...5.33 ERA, 38 K's in 43.1 IP in 2016...Allowed only 15 extra base hits in 108.0 career innings |
| Team | 6 shutouts (most since `11)...Already more R, HR, RBIs & SB in non-con than 2015 (6 fewer G)...3 HR allowed in 99.2 IP | |
| HC | Kerri Blaylock | 17th Season...Won 571 games at SIU...Three MVC titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances |
