Salukis host league-leading No. 16 Missouri State

Friday, May 5

Carbondale, Ill.

6:30 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Missouri State

05/04/2017 | 7:11:00 | Baseball

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (23-23, 6-6 MVC) vs. No. 16 MISSOURI STATE (30-14, 11-0 MVC) // May 5-7, 2017 // Carbondale, Ill. (Weather) // Itchy Jones Stadium (2,000 | Turf) // SIU Game Notes PDF // MSU Game Notes PDF

The Southern Illinois baseball team hosts No. 16 Missouri State for a three game series May 5-7 at Itchy Jones Stadium. The teams will play at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Saturday morning is the annual alumni golf scramble. For more information, click here.

GAME 1 - Friday, May 5 // 6:30 p.m. CT // Stats | Listen | 105.1-FM in Carbondale

SIU RHP Chad Whitmer (5-3, 3.74 ERA, 74.2 IP)
MSU LHP Jordan Knutson (5-2, 3.84 ERA, 68.0 IP)

GAME 2 - Saturday, May 6 // 4 p.m. CT // Stats | Listen | 105.1-FM in Carbondale

SIU RHP Michael Baird (4-2, 4.06 ERA, 68.2 IP)
MSU RHP Dylan Coleman (6-2, 4.69 ERA, 64.2 IP)

GAME 3 - Sunday, May 7 // 1 p.m. CT // Stats | Listen | 1300-AM and 95.5-FM in Carbondale

SIU LHP Joey Marciano (3-3, 4.79 ERA, 41.1 IP)
MSU LHP Doug Still (6-1, 2.53 ERA, 67.2 IP)

AROUND THE HORN

Southern Illinois hosts MVC-leading Missouri State for a three-game series this weekend. The Bears are 11-0 in the MVC and ranked No. 16 in the nation.
The home team has not won a game in this series since 2014. Missouri State swept three in Carbondale in 2015, and the Salukis swept Missouri State last year in Springfield, Mo.
Missouri State's 11-0 start is tied for the fourth-best start in MVC history. Wichita State started 16-0 in 1998, 15-0 in 1982 and 15-0 in 2004 in the only other starts better than Missouri State's this year. Dating back to the end of last year's regular season, the Bears have won 15-straight MVC games.
Saluki Friday night starter Chad Whitmer is the reigning MVC Pitcher of the Week. Whitmer allowed one run in eight complete innings in a 4-1 win over Dallas Baptist last week.
Whitmer has earned MVC Pitcher of the Week twice in the last three weeks. He also earned it after striking out 13 in a complete game win at Indiana State three weeks ago.
Closer Ryan Netemeyer ranks second in the NCAA with 14 saves this year, a school record.
Netemeyer earned his 14th save of the season last week against Dallas Baptist. That broke a 27-year old school record set by Al Levine in 1990.
Netemeyer's 27 career saves are eighth among active players in Division I baseball and second among active juniors. One of the seven players with more career saves than Netemeyer is MSU senior Bryan Young (31).
Since March 1, Netemeyer's stat line in 18 appearances: 20.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 7H, 19 Ks, 9 BB, 13 saves.
Greg Lambert has hit in 11 of the last 12 games. In that span, he has raised his batting average from .288 to .337.
In that span, Lambert is hitting .478 with nine doubles, a triple, a home run and 15 RBIs. Lambert leads the league with 19 doubles. In that same span, Ryan Smith is hitting .425 with five doubles.
Southern Illinois has stolen 76 bases this year, which ranks 16th in the NCAA and leads the MVC by 41. (Bradley is second in the MVC with 35 stolen bases.)
Southern's 76 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 TTU on Sunday, which is tied for a school record and tied for the most in the NCAA this season.
Blackfan is tied for the SIU career doubles record with 51. His next double will break the record shared by Chris Serritella (2009-12) and Tim Kratochvil (1993-96).
SIU ranks 12th nationally and leads the MVC with 46 double plays. Since the start of 2015, Southern has turned 161 double plays in 161 games, the most in the league. Will Farmer has started all 161 of those games in the middle infield.

MVC LEADERS

Greg Lambert in doubles (19)
Lambert in sacrifice flies (5)
Connor Kopach in stolen bases (28)
Chad Whitmer in innings pitched (74.2)
Ryan Netemeyer in saves (14)
Team in stolen bases (76)
Team in saves (16)
Team in double plays (46)

LAMBERT AND SMITH ON A ROLL

Greg Lambert has hit in 11 of the last 12 games. In that span, he has raised his batting average from .288 to .337.
In those 12 games, Lambert is hitting .478 with nine doubles, a triple, a home run and 15 RBIs. Lambert leads the league with 19 doubles. In that same span, Ryan Smith is hitting .425 with five doubles.
Lambert ranks third in the MVC in RBIs with 47. The only other two players in the MVC with more than 40 RBIs are Jeremy Eierman (52) and Jake Burger (49), both of Missouri State.
Ryan Smith enters the weekend with a nine-game hitting streak. Smith has seven multi-hit games in that nine-game hitting streak.
Smith is hitting .485 during his hitting streak.

RUN WITH US

Southern Illinois has stolen 76 bases this year in 46 games. That leads the MVC (by 41 steals) and ranks 16th nationally.
Already, SIU has stolen the most bases for the program since 1991 (109 steals).
Connor Kopach leads the MVC and ranks third nationally with 28 stolen bases.
Kopach stole four bases in the Sunday game vs. Tennessee Tech, which tied a school record and tied for the most in the NCAA this year.
Kopach is the first SIU player with a four-steal game since 1992.
This past summer, Kopach set a Northwoods League record with 50 stolen bases.
Kopach (26) and Ryan Smith (14) are 1-2 in the MVC in stolen bases this year.
Everybody who has played in more than six games has attempted at least one stolen base, except Logan Blackfan.
Last year, SIU stole 38 bags total.