Southern Illinois University
Illinois State University
Softball to play in first road conference series
03/31/2017 | 12:49:00 | Softball
Saturday | Â Live Stats / ESPN3 / Radio
Sunday | Â Live Stats / ESPN3 / Radio
SIU GAME NOTES
NORMAL, ILL. - The Southern Illinois University softball team heads on the road this weekend for a three game series with Illinois State University. SIU is currently 5-1 in conference play and are tied with the Redbirds for the top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference. This weekend's games are the Salukis first conference games on the road this season.
QUICK HITTERS
1. SIU are winners of seven of their last nine.
2. Brianna Jones was tabbed the MVC pitcher of the week. It was her seventh weekly honor in her career, tying her for seventh all-time in MVC history.
3. SIU went 3-0 against ISU last season, sweeping them in Carbondale.
4. Blaylock is 27-23 against ISU as SIU's head coach.
5. ISU leads the all time series, 63-56.
SIU has started off conference play hot, winning five of six games. All six games have been at home for the Salukis, and the lone loss came at the hand of Bradley University two Sunday's ago. This past weekend the Salukis swept Drake University in a three game series. The Dawgs received great pitching performances on all three days. Brianna Jones led the way, picking up two wins and a save. One of her wins was of the shutout variety, giving her 12 in her career, which ties her for tenth most all time in Saluki history. So far this season Jones is 7-8 and has an ERA of 2.03.
At the plate SIU is getting production up and down their lineup. Leading the way for SIU is Maddy Vermejan, who is batting over .500 in the first six MVC games. Merri Anne Patterson comes in right behind Vermejan with a batting average of .450. Both ladies have drove in a combined 9 runs and scored ten runs in conference play.
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS
Illinois State enters the weekend series with a 15-14 overall record. So far in valley play the Redbirds are 5-1, picking up two out of three from Wichita State last weekend. At the plate ISU is lead by four players. Shannon Felde, Riley Hale, Allison Spence, and Jordan de los Reyes are all batting over the .300 mark and have driven in 76 of the team's 130 RBIs this season.Â
On the mound the Redbirds have three pitchers that have made more than ten appearance this year. Sarah Finck has had the most starts of any Redbird, sporting a 10-8 record and an ERA of 2.79.
The weekend series will feature a double header on Saturday, starting at 12 p.m., and one game on Sunday that will start at 11 a.m.
2017 MVC STANDINGS
| Â TEAM | MVC | OVERALL |
| SOUTHERN ILLINOIS | 5-1 | 17-15 |
| ILLINOIS STATE | 5-1 | 15-14 |
| MISSOURI STATE | 4-2 | 16-11 |
| WICHITA STATE | 4-2 | 17-12 |
| EVANSVILLE | 4-2 | 12-16 |
| NORTHERN IOWA | 3-3 | 15-13 |
| BRADLEY | 3-3 | 17-15 |
| INDIANA STATE | 2-4 | 15-14 |
| LOYOLA | 0-6 | 17-11 |
| DRAKE | 0-6 | 16-16 |
