Southern Illinois treks to Wichita for second MVC series of the year

Friday, April 7

Wichita, Kan.

6 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Wichita State

Southern Illinois treks to Wichita for second MVC series of the year

04/06/2017 | 4:44:00 | Baseball

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (15-15, 3-0 MVC) vs. WICHITA STATE (14-14, 0-0 MVC) // April 7-9, 2017 // Wichita, Kan. // Eck Stadium // SIU Game Notes PDF

The Southern Illinois baseball team travels to Wichita, Kan., to take on the Wichita State Shockers in Southern's second MVC weekend of the year. WSU will be playing its first Valley games of the year. All three games can be streamed through ESPN3.

GAME 1 - Friday, April 7 // 6 p.m. CT // ESPN3 // Live Stats // Listen Free // 105.1-FM WVZA

SIU RHP Chad Whitmer (2-2, 4.03 ERA, 44.2 IP)
WSU RHP Zach Lewis (1-2, 3.27 ERA, 33.0 IP)

GAME 2 - Saturday, April 8 // 2 p.m. CT // ESPN3 // Live Stats // Listen Free // 1300-AM or 95.5-FM in Carbondale

SIU RHP Michael Baird (4-0, 1.61 ERA, 50.1 IP)
WSU RHP Tommy Barnhouse (2-2, 3.42 ERA, 23.2 IP)

GAME 3 - Sunday, April 9 // 1 p.m. CT // ESPN3 // Live Stats // Listen Free // 1300-AM or 95.5-FM in Carbondale

SIU LHP Joey Marciano (2-1, 3.28 ERA, 24.2 IP)
WSU TBA

AROUND THE HORN

Southern Illinois heads to Wichita State for Southern's second MVC series of the year. SIU swept Evansville last week in Carbondale.
Wichita State will be playing its first MVC games of the year. All three games will be streamed through ESPN3.
SIU won two out of three against Wichita State last year. The Shockers won on Friday, but SIU won the final two games to take the series.
The Salukis won both games vs. Wichita last year in the last at-bat. Ryan Smith hit a 10th-inning walk-off homer in Game 2, and SIU scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to break a 1-1 tie in its 4-1 win in Game 3.
Wichita State leads the all-time series, 104-37.
SIU closer Netemeyer ranks fifth in the NCAA with nine saves this season. He leads the MVC by three saves.
SIU's single-season saves record is 13 by Al Levine in 1990. Netemeyer had 12 saves last year, which rank second in SIU single-season history.
Netemeyer's 22 career saves...
- Rank second in SIU career history. (Bryant George (2007-10) holds the career record with 30.)
- Rank eighth among active players in Division I baseball (and second among juniors).
Baird posted a 1.76 ERA in 2016, the best mark for any returning starter in the NCAA. In his last 159 innings, Baird's ERA is 1.70.
Nick Hutchins was added to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List. The Johnny Bench Award is given annually to the nation's top catcher.
The Salukis have stolen 51 bases already in 2017, which is nearly twice as many as any other MVC school (Bradley is second with 27). SIU ranks 14th nationally in steals.
Last year, Southern stole 38 bases in 57 games. This year, the Salukis have stolen 51 bases in the first 30 games.
Connor Kopach (16), Ryan Smith (9) and Greg Lambert (8) give SIU three of the top five base stealers in the MVC.
Kopach ranks fifth nationally in stolen bases. Kopach is coming off a summer in which he set a Northwoods League record for stolen bases with 50. He has been on base in all 30 games this season (29 safely and one by dropped third strike).
Kopach is the only player in Division I baseball with at least 11 doubles and 16 stolen bases.
Since the start of the 2015 season, Southern Illinois has turned 144 double plays in 145 games, the best mark in the MVC. Will Farmer has started all 145 of those games in the middle infield.