Salukis host Illini on Tuesday at Itchy Jones Stadium

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (23-22) vs. ILLINOIS (18-23) // May 2, 2017 // 6 p.m. CT // Carbondale, Ill. (Weather) // Itchy Jones Stadium

The Southern Illinois baseball team hosts Illinois for a mid-week matchup in Carbondale on Tuesday. The Salukis and Illini will square off at 6 p.m. at Itchy Jones Stadium. The game will be streamed through ESPN3.com. SIU is going for the season sweep of Illinois, having won the previous two matchups this season in Champaign.

GAME LINKS » ESPN3 | Stats | Audio | 105.1-FM WVZA

PITCHING PROBABLES

SIU LHP Jamison Steege (1-1, 7.23 ERA, 18.2 IP)
ILL RHP Cole Bellair (3-2, 6.95 ERA, 44.0 IP)

AROUND THE HORN

SIU hosts Illinois for its second-to-last mid-week game of the season. The Salukis and Illini will start at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2, in Itchy Jones Stadium.
Jamison Steege will be making his second career start for SIU. Steege allowed three runs in five innings last week at Southeast Missouri in his first career start.
Southern Illinois leads the all-time series against Illinois, 38-35. The Salukis have won four of the last five matchups between the schools.
SIU has a chance to go 3-0 against Illinois in 2017...
- Southern hasn't won three-straight games over Illinois since a four-game winning streak spanning the 1994-96 seasons.
- Southern hasn't swept a season series of at least three games over Illinois since 1971.
SIU won at SEMO last mid-week with a ninth-inning comeback. SIU trailed 5-2 in the ninth but scored five runs for a 7-5 win.
Southern Illinois is 20-14 on the weekends but just 3-8 in mid-week matchups. The final two mid-week games are against Illinois this week and against Saint Louis on May 16. The SLU game will be played at Rent One Park in Marion, Ill.
The Salukis have overcome multi-run ninth-inning deficits in twice in their last six games. In the second game vs. Tennessee Tech, Southern trailed 9-7 with two outs in the ninth but rallied for a 10-9 win. On Tuesday at SEMO, SIU trailed 5-2 but scored five runs in the ninth for a 7-5 win.
In both comebacks, Jake Hand had the go-ahead hit. He hit an RBI double vs. TTU and a two-run single to break a 5-5 tie at SEMO.
Closer Ryan Netemeyer set SIU's single-season saves record on Friday. His 14th save of the season broke a 27-year-old school record that belonged to Al Levine (1990).
Netemeyer's 27 career saves are 10th among active players in Division I baseball and second among active juniors.
Since March 1, Netemeyer's stat line in 18 appearances: 20.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 7H, 19 Ks, 9 BB, 13 saves. He hasn't allowed an earned run since February.
Southern Illinois has stolen 72 bases this year, which ranks 19th in the NCAA and leads the MVC by 37. (Bradley is second in the MVC with 35 stolen bases.)
Southern's 72 steals are the most for the program since the 1991 team stole 109 bases. Last year's SIU team stole 38 bags.
Kopach stole four bases in the third game against No. 26 Tennessee Tech, which is tied for a school record and tied for the most in the NCAA this season.
Logan Blackfan went through a stretch with one double in 24 games. He has now doubled four times in the last six games.
Blackfan, a junior, has 51 career doubles, which is tied for the SIU career record.
Ryan Smith comes into the game with an eight-game hitting streak. Smith has two hits in five of those eight games. He has raised is season average from .265 to .302 in that span.
Greg Lambert had his 10-game hitting streak snapped in the rain-shorted third game against Dallas Baptist. Lambert's average went from .288 to .339 during the 10-game hitting streak.
Lambert has 18 doubles this year, which leads the Missouri Valley Conference. With two more doubles, Lambert can become the ninth player in SIU history with a 20-doubles season.
SIU ranks eighth nationally and leads the MVC with 46 double plays. Since the start of 2015, Southern has turned 161 double plays in 160 games, the most in the league. Will Farmer has started all 160 of those games in the middle infield.
Friday starter Chad Whitmer was named the MVC Pitcher of the Week on Monday afternoon. Whitmer earned the honor for the second time in the last three weeks. He allowed just one run in eight innings and limited Dallas Baptist to just five hits in a 4-1 SIU win over the Patriots.

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Players Mentioned

Logan Blackfan

Will Farmer

Jake Hand

Greg Lambert

Ryan Netemeyer

Ryan Smith

Jamison Steege

Chad Whitmer

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