Salukis close regular season at Bradley

Thursday, May 18

Peoria, Ill.

11 a.m.

Southern Illinois University

Bradley

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Photo by: Thomas Donley

05/17/2017 | 3:19:00 | Baseball

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (26-27, 9-9 MVC) at BRADLEY (19-28, 5-13 MVC) // May 18-20, 2017 // Peoria, Ill. (Weather) // Dozer Park (7,500 // Grass) // SIU Game Notes PDF

The Southern Illinois baseball team closes the regular season with a three-game series at Bradley. All three games start at 11 a.m., and all three games will be streamed through ESPN3.

GAME 1 - Thursday, May 18 // 11 a.m. // ESPN3 | Stats | Audio | 95.5-FM or 1300-AM in Carbondale

SIU RHP Chad Whitmer (5-3, 3.65 ERA, 88.2 IP)
BU RHP Mitch Janssen (1-2, 7.81 ERA, 27.2 IP)

GAME 2 - Friday, May 19 // 11 a.m. // ESPN3 | Stats | Audio | 95.5-FM or 1300-AM in Carbondale

SIU LHP Jamison Steege (2-1, 4.46 ERA, 36.1 IP)
BU LHP Cole Cook (7-5, 4.50 ERA, 70.0 IP)

GAME 3 - Saturday, May 20 // 11 a.m. // ESPN3 | Stats | Audio | 95.5-FM or 1300-AM in Carbondale

SIU LHP Joey Marciano (3-3, 4.70 ERA, 46.0 IP)
BU RHP Alex Gray (0-4, 7.28 ERA, 47.0 IP)

AROUND THE HORN

Southern Illinois finishes the regular season at Bradley May 18-20. All three games start at 11 a.m. and will be streamed through ESPN3.
The Salukis lead the all-time series, 85-75-1. Bradley has won three-straight series over SIU, including a sweep last year. Southern's last series win was a sweep at Bradley in 2013.
Southern has been swept in the last regular season series of the year for each of the last four years. SIU's last wins on the last weekend of the year came during a sweep of IPFW in 2012. That year, the Salukis reached the MVC Tournament championship game.
The Salukis are currently tied for fourth in the MVC standings. Depending on the results this weekend, SIU could be seeded anywhere from 3-6. For more SIU seeding scenarios, see the section below.
Over the weekend, Logan Blackfan set the SIU career record for doubles. He now has 53 career doubles, breaking the previous record of 51 shared by Chris Serritella (2009-12) and Tim Kratochvil (1993-96).
Greg Lambert also jumped into the top-10 at SIU in career doubles. Lambert has 47 career doubles, tied for ninth all-time at SIU with Jordan Sivertsen (2009-12), P.J. Finigan (2002-05) and Greg Andrews (2000-04).
Lambert ranks third in the nation with 23 doubles this season. The SIU single-season record is 24 doubles, set by Chris Serritella in 2012.
The College Baseball Foundation announced that Southern Illinois closer Ryan Netemeyer was one of 21 semifinalists for National Pitcher of the Year. Netemeyer is also a semifinalist for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year.
Netemeyer has 15 saves this season, the second-most in the NCAA. His 15 saves broke a 27-year old school record set by Al Levine (13 saves in 1990).
Netemeyer's 28 career saves are eighth among active players in Division I baseball and second among active juniors.
In Southern's last 16 games, outfielder Ryan Smith has 10 multi-hit games. He hit a game-tying RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday vs. Illinois State.
Jake Hand comes into the weekend with an eight-game hitting streak. During the streak, Hand has three multi-hit games and eight RBIs.
Southern Illinois has stolen 96 bases this year, which ranks 10th in the NCAA and leads the MVC by 53 (Missouri State is second with 43). SIU is 24-for-27 stealing over the last two weeks.
Connor Kopach has 32 stolen bases this year, which ranks third in the NCAA. Already, Kopach has the most stolen bases for any Saluki since Bob Geary had 34 in 1991.
SIU ranks 17th nationally and leads the MVC with 50 double plays. Since the start of 2015, Southern has turned 165 double plays in 167 games, the most in the league. Will Farmer has started all 167 of those games in the middle infield.
The Salukis have hit 106 doubles this year, which is second in the MVC and 22nd in the nation. It's already the most at SIU since 2012 (125).

SEEDING SCENARIOS

Heading to the final MVC regular season series of the season, the Salukis are tied for fourth place with Wichita State. The Shockers hold the tiebreaker over SIU after going 2-1 against the Salukis earlier this year.
The Salukis can finish anywhere from third to sixth, depending on the results of the final weekend. Seeding is based on winning percentage, so scenarios assume every MVC team completes all three games this weekend.
The Salukis would finish as the 3-seed in only one scenario:
- SIU goes 3-0 at Bradley - AND -
- Wichita State goes 2-1 at Indiana State
The Salukis would finish in sixth place if...
- Evansville wins two more games than SIU this weekend - AND -
- Wichita State wins at least one game at Indiana State
Otherwise, SIU will be a 4-seed or 5-seed at the MVC Tournament.
The MVC Tournament is May 24-27 in Springfield, Mo.

RECORD SETTERS

Logan Blackfan has 53 career doubles, a school record.
Blackfan led the MVC with 23 doubles last year as a sophomore after hitting 19 doubles as a freshman in 2015.
Ryan Netemeyer has a school-record 15 saves this season, breaking Al Levine's mark of 13 saves in 1990.
Two of the top three single-season saves mark are by Netemeyer. His 15 saves this year are a school record, and he had 12 saves last year.
Netemeyer's 28 career saves...
- Rank second in SIU career history. (Bryant George (2007-10) holds the career record with 30.)
- Rank 8th among active players in Division I baseball
- Rank 2nd among active juniors in Division I baseball.
Jacob Williams is SIU's most experienced reliever with 85 career appearances. He is ranks fifth on SIU's career appearances list.
Connor Kopach has stolen 32 bases this year, the most for any Saluki since Bob Geary stole 34 in 1991. Southern's stolen base record is 42 by Bert Newman in 1976.
Two Salukis tied program single-game records earlier this year...
- Greg Lambert hit three doubles at Southeast Missouri (4/25)
- Connor Kopach stole four bases against Tennessee Tech (4/23)
Chad Whitmer entered the top-10 all-time at SIU in career innings pitched last week.
Whitmer surpassed 200 career strikeouts earlier this year. Whitmer is the 10th player in SIU history with 200 career strikeouts, and just the third since 2000.
Lambert has an MVC-high 23 doubles this year. He's the ninth player in SIU history with a 20-double season. The SIU record for doubles in a season is 24, set by Chris Serritella in 2012.