Softball notes and links: Gamecock Invitational

Game Notes (PDF)

The Salukis (2-2) play their second tournament of the season this weekend at the Gamecock Invitational hosted by South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina.

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Live Stats

Live Audio
Streaming audio for all four of SIU's games this weekend will be available through Saluki All Access. Sports information director Tony McDaniel will have the call.

Game Notes

Looking to 2018...

The Salukis return six starters and two of its three pitchers from the 2017 MVC Championship team.
In total, 12 of Southern's 18 players lettered in 2017.
Four Salukis, senior infielder Sydney Jones, junior pitcher Brianna Jones, sophomore second baseman Maddy Vermejan and sophomore outfielder Susie Baranski, were all Preseason All-MVC Selections. Southern tied Illinois State for the most selections to the team in the Conference with four.
The Salukis were picked second in the Valley by the league's Coaches. Illinois State was picked first and the Salukis were just one vote behind the Redbirds and one point ahead of Northern Iowa in third place. Southern and Northern Iowa are tied with the most first-place votes with three a piece.

So far...

The Salukis are 2-2 on the season and are being outscored 21-17.
The Salukis have 6 home runs through four games, the most through as many games since 2012 when the team also had six.
Starting pitcher Brianna Jones has struck out 17 batters in 14 innings. She's 2-0 on the season and has allowed just 7 hits, 2 earned runs and 3 walks.
Southern was no hit on 2/10 by Abilene Christian's Hannah Null in a five-inning game. It was the first time the team was no-hit since March of 2015.
The Salukis have two batters hitting at least .400 (Baranski, Vermejan) and two more hitting at least .300 (S. Jones, Decker)

Milestone/Record watch...

Southern's long time head coach Kerri Blaylock is approaching several big career records and milestones.
As of 2/14 she is...
Four wins from 634 which would surpass Kay Brechtelsbauer for the all-time lead at Southern.
19 games from the 1,000th of her career. She is projected to manage that game on March 14 at UT - Martin barring cancellations.
She is 10 wins from her 300th in MVC play. She will be the third coach in Conference history to win that many games.

Brianna Jones...

Jones struck out her 300th career batter on Feb 10. Her total currently stands at 302.
Jones is eighth all-time at SIU in strikeouts. She is 10 away from passing Lisa Peterson for seventh. Carisa Winters holds the all-time lead at SIU with 896.
8th in career shutouts with 15. She's seven short of sixth place. Amy Harre has the all-time lead with 49.
9th all-time in wins with 43. She is sixth short of eighth place. Amy Harre has the all-time lead with 84.
10th all-time in innings pitched at 430.1.
10th all-time in complete games with 49. She is five short of ninth. Amy Harre has the all-time lead with 90.

Sydney Jones...

Jones moved into seventh all-time at SIU in home runs with the 22nd and 23rd of her career last weekend.
She is two away from being alone in fifth place. Katie Jordan holds the all-time lead at SIU with 39.

More on Blaylock...

Blaylock is the only coach to lead an MVC team to five-straight NCAA tournaments. She did so from 2003-07.
She has the second-best winning percentage (.645) of any coach in the MVC with more than 500 wins.
She is one of just two coaches in the program's 51-year history. Kay Brechtelsbauer is the program's only other coach.

Nationally Ranked Statistically

The Salukis are 21st in the nation in home runs per game. Southern in averaging 1.5 per and have hit a total of 6 in four games.
The Salukis are 38th in the nation in slugging percentage at .510.
Maddy Vermejan in ninth in the nation in hit by pitch per game. She's been hit three times in four games, an average on 0.75.
Sydney Jones in 28th in the nation in home runs and 29th in the nation in home runs per game. She has 2 through 4 games.
Brianna Jones is 50th in the nation in strikeouts with 17.
Kyleigh Decker is 17th in the nation in triples. She has 1.

Youth Movement...

Of Southern's starters in 2017, three of them were freshmen. They were; outfielder Susie Baranski, second baseman Maddy Vermejan and catcher/DP Katelyn Massa.

On Baranski...

Baranski was one of only four players to start in all 57 games.
She led the team in at-bats (181), hits (53) and runs scored (39).
She was also second on the team in walks (31) and steals (9).
Baranski was a preseason All-MVC selection.

On Massa...

Massa unseated a senior catcher and started in 43 games behind the plate or as a DP.
She hit .297 with 5 home runs and 22 RBI and struck out only 14 times, the least of any starter last year.
She was perfect in the field positing a 1.000 fielding percentage while throwing out 11 of 17 potential base stealers.
She was an All-MVC second team selection in 2017.

On Vermejan...

Made 54 starts and hit .284 in her freshman season.
She led the team in batting average during the Conference season hitting at a .350 clip.
She was third on the team with 7 doubles.
Posted a .990 fielding percentage, the best of any non-catcher on the team.
Was selected to the 2017 All-MVC second team and the All-Defensive team and is a member of this year's preseason All-MVC team.

Also, several more underclassmen are slated to start this season. Sophomore Kyleigh Decker is projected to take the bulk of the starts at first and two true freshmen Jenny Jansen and Maris Boelens could see a lot of time in the outfield.

Scouting the Opponents...

On Mercer...

Mercer is 4-0 so far this year and have outscored their opponents 36-12. Last year the Bears were 26-31 and 9-9 in the Southland Conference.
Five of the Bears starters are hitting at or better than .400. Laurenne Sanchez and Meghan Rud lead the way with a .538 average. Sanchez leads the team in doubles with three and is 10th in the nation in the category.
Mercer's staff of three pitchers has a combined ERA of 2.85. Opponents are hitting .227 against them and sophomore Stella Preston leads the nation in walks per seven innings. She is yet to allow one in eight innings of relief work.
The Salukis are 4-0 against Mercer all time and last beat the Bears 10-4 in 2012 and are outscoring them 17-5 all-time.

On Georgetown...

The Hoyas are 1-4 so far this season and are being outscored 32-16. Last year the Hoyas were 11-37 overall and 4-16 in the Big East.
Sophomore Noelle Holliday is 15th in the nation with 11 RBI. She's hitting .357 with 2 home runs.
As a team, Georgetown's ERA is 7.94. Three Hoyas have made starts and none of them have an ERA below 3.50.
This will be the first time the Salukis face off against the Hoyas in the history of the two programs.

On South Carolina...

The Gamecocks are 5-1 this season and are receiving votes in the coaches and media poll. They are outscoring opponents 35-7.
Sophomore pitcher Cayla Drotar is second in the nation in shutouts with 2 and second in the nation in wins with 3. She has an ERA of 1.11 and has allowed three runs in 19 innings of work.
Offensively, two Gamecocks are hitting .400 or better. Kenzi Maguire is hitting .429 and Mackenzie Boesel is hitting .400 with a home run, 5 RBI and 2 doubles.
Southern and South Carolina have played three times; Southern is yet to win a game. The two last met in 2005. South Carolina won that meeting 2-0.

On Michigan State...

The Spartans are 2-3 and have lost three times by shutouts.
Despite the win/loss record, Michigan State is 24th in the nation in team ERA at 1.13. The highest ERA of any pitcher on the team is 2.15.
Spartan pitcher Kristina Zalewski leads the nation in walks allowed per nine innings. She's 0-2 this season with a 0.54 ERA. She's allowed 9 hits and an earned run in 13 innings of work.
Michigan State is 172nd in the nation in fielding percentage at .935. The Spartans have committed 9 errors and allowed 5 steals in 5 games. However, Michigan State has turned 3 double plays and have and are 30th in the nation in double plays per game.
The Salukis are 7-4 all time against Michigan State. Southern's last win over the Spartans came in 2017 when the Salukis won 4-2 on a neutral field.

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Players Mentioned

Susie Baranski

Maris Boelens

Kyleigh Decker

Jenny Jansen

Brianna Jones

Sydney Jones

Katelyn Massa

Maddy Vermejan

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