Salukis open MVC play at home against Loyola

Game notes (PDF)

Saluki softball (14-9) opens MVC play this weekend at home against Loyola (12-9). The two teams will play in doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday. The weekend will close on Sunday with a single game at 11 a.m.

Media Links

Audio stream
Jeremy Sneed will be on the call for all three of SIU's games this weekend. The games will be streamed through SIUSalukis.com and are available at the links below.
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3

Live stats
Live stats will be available for all three games. They will be accessible at the link below.
Live stats

Promotions

Sunday is National Corn Dog Day. The first 200 fans to Charlotte West Stadium will receive a free corn dog.

Game Notes

Looking to 2018...

The Salukis return six starters and two of their 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 14-9 on the season and are outscoring opponents 106-77.
The Salukis had 11 home runs through the first 8 games, the most through as many games since 2003.
On Feb. 17, Southern beat Georgetown 13-4. It was the biggest win and most runs scored in a five-inning game since March 14, 2017 when SIU defeated Southern Utah 14-2.
Southern short-gamed opponents in back-to-back games against Murray State on March 4 and Delaware State on March 9. It was the first time the Salukis had done so since March 12 and March 14 of 2017 when they did it to Portland State and Southern Utah.

Milestone/Record watch...

Southern's long time head coach Kerri Blaylock is approaching several big career records and milestones.
As of 3/16 she is...
The all-time leader in wins at SIU with 641. She passed Kay Brechtelsbauer with her 634th on Feb. 23 against UConn.
Managed her 1,000th game against UT-Martin on March 14 in a 2-1 win.
She is 8 wins from her 300th in MVC play. She will be the third coach in Conference history to win that many games.

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 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

(Top-50 only)

Maddy Vermejan is eighth in the nation in hit by pitch per game. She's been hit 11 times in 18 games, an average on 0.48.
Brianna Jones has won 12 games this year; good for fifth in the nation.
Brianna Jones has struck out 89 batters this year, good for 43rd in the nation.
Brianna Jones has hit two batters this season, the 25th-least amount in the nation.

MVC Leading Salukis...

Vermejan is tops in the Valley in hit by pitch per game with 0.48 per game.
Brianna Jones leads the Conference in wins with 12.

Starting Fast...

The Salukis are 11-0 this season when they score first, 7-0 when they score in the first inning and 6-0 when leading after one inning. Adversely, the team is 1-4 when trailing after the first inning and 3-5 when allowing runs in the first inning.

Power Generators...

Sophomore Katelyn Massa leads the team in RBI (20), home runs (5), doubles (6), slugging percentage (.647) and walks (14).
Through 17 games in 2016, Massa was hitting .167 with a walk, no RBI, home runs or doubles.
This year Maddy Vermejan has already hit two home runs and earned 11 RBI. She leads the team in runs scored with 18.
In all of 2016, she had just 20 RBI and didn't hit a round-tripper.
Freshman Jenny Jansen leads the team in hits (24), doubles (6), and total bases (42). She is also second on the team in Home runs (4) and RBI (12).

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 posting 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.

Sophomore Kyleigh Decker has started every game at first for the Salukis this year.

So far this year, three freshmen, Jenny Jansen, Maris Boelens and Megan Brown have combined for 37 starts and 46 appearances.

Captain's Catch...

Senior team captain Savannah Fisher is having a great year when it comes to run production. She is second on the team in RBI with 13, equaling her total from all of 2017.
She's slugging at a clip of .388, .129 points better than her 2017 average.

Ace in the hole...

Saluki junior Brianna Jones is off to a fantastic start to the 2018 season.
Jones is 12-1 with 88 strikeouts, 17 walks and 11 complete games, three of which have been shutouts. She currently has an ERA of 1.79.
Jones earned the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week Award on March 12 for her performance at the USF Under Armour Showcase after going 3-0 with 23 strikeouts, four walks, three complete games and holding opposing hitters to a batting average of .181.
Jones leads the league in wins (12), innings pitched (90) and starts (13) and is top-five in batters struck out (86), batters struck out looking (32) and appearances (17).
Twice this year she has struck out 10 hitters. She did so once against Mercer on 2/16 and again against Maine on 3/11.

Scouting Loyola...

The Ramblers are 12-9 this year and are currently on fifth place in the Missouri Valley Conference. This will also be Loyola's MVC opener.
Loyola and SIU have both faced off against Wright State and Maine this year. The Salukis and Ramblers defeated both teams.
Loyola's catcher, Katie Kasubke, was an All-MVC Defensive Team selection in 2017 and was selected to this year's Preseason All-MVC team. She's hitting .264 this year with 10 RBI and a home run.
As a team, Loyola is 15th in the nation in double plays per game at 0.52. They've turned 21 this season.
They are also ranked 17th in the nation in triples per game at 0.38 per game. Loyola has recorded 8 this season.
Shannon McGee, the defending MVC Player of the Week, is top-50 in the nation in triples, triples per game and toughest batters to strike out. She is hitting a team-best .435 with 3 doubles, 3 triples and a team-leading 13 RBI.
Brooke Wilson is also ranked in the top-50 in the nation in triples with 3. She is hitting .318 with 11 RBI and a home run.
Loyola's pitcher, Kiley Jones is ranked 46th in the nation with nine wins. She is 9-2 this year with an ERA of 1.85. She's struck out 45 batters in 75.2 innings pitched.
Loyola's second starter, Keenan Dolezal, is 3-6 this year with a 2.55 ERA. She's struck out 25 batters and walked 18 in 49.1 innings pitched.
Five Ramblers that have appeared in 20 or more games are hitting better than .300 this year. They are: McGee, Jordyn Cordell, Brooke Wilson, Allyson Ivey and Jamie O'Brien.
Southern and Loyola have faced off 14 times, the Salukis lead the all-time series 11-3.
In 2017 Southern and Loyola met three times in Chicago. The Salukis took the first game 1-0, but dropped the final two games. All three games were won by one run.

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Players Mentioned

Susie Baranski

Kyleigh Decker

Savannah Fisher

Brianna Jones

Sydney Jones

Katelyn Massa

Maddy Vermejan

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