Southern Illinois University
Delaware State University
Softball heads to Tampa for five games
03/07/2018 | 4:48:00 | Softball
Softball is back on the road after a week at home for the USF Under Armour Showcase in Tampa, Florida this week. Southern will play games against Delaware State, Quinnipiac, Rider, UCF and Maine.
Media Links
Live stats will be available for all games at the link below.
http://www.sidearmstats.com/siu/softball/
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 9-8 on the season and are outscoring opponents 74-64.
The Salukis had 11 home runs through the first 8 games, the most through as many games since 2003.
Starting pitcher Brianna Jones has struck out 63 batters in 67 innings. She's 8-1 on the season and has a 20 earned runs and 13 walks.
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.
Milestone/Record watch...
Southern's long time head coach Kerri Blaylock is approaching several big career records and milestones.
As of 2/28 she is...
The all-time leader in wins at SIU with 637. She passed Kay Brechtelsbauer with her 634th on Feb. 23 against UConn.
Six 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 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 fifth in the nation in hit by pitch per game. She's been hit nine times in 17 games, an average on 0.53.Â
Brianna Jones has won eight games this year; good for 22nd in the nation.
As a team, the Salukis are 38th in the nation in fielding percentage at .974.
MVC Leading Salukis...
Vermejan is tops in the Valley in hit by pitch with 0.53 per game.Â
Brianna Jones leads the Conference in wins with eight.
The Salukis lead the lead in fielding percentage at .974.
Starting Fast...
The Salukis are 7-0 this season when they score first, 5-0 when they score in the first inning and when leading after one inning. Adversely, the team is 0-4 when trailing after the first inning.
Bounce Back...
After committing two errors against Michigan State, Senior Savanna Fisher has been nearly flawless at shortstop. Since, she has committed just one error in seven games while recording a total of 13 putouts and 13 assists.
Power Generators...
Sophomore Katelyn Massa leads the team in RBI (16), home runs (4), doubles (6), total bases (33), slugging percentage (.647) and walks (11).
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 seven RBI.
In all of 2016, she had just 20 RBI and didn't hit a round-tripper.
Freshman Jenny Jansen ranks second on the team in Home runs (3) and RBI (9).Â
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.Â
She led the team in at-bats (181), hits (53) and runs scored (39).Â
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.Â
She was an All-MVC second team selection in 2017.
On Vermejan...
Made 54 starts and hit .284 in her freshman season.Â
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.
Scouting the Opponents...
On Delaware State..
The Hornets are 1-9 this year and are being outscored 20-63 and went 18-29 last year.
Delaware State does not rank in the top-50 in any national category and are in the bottom-200 in most categories.Â
Delaware State has a team ERA of 9.00 this season and have only struck out six batters while walking 16.
Desiree Moreno is the only Hornet with a batting average better than .300. She is hitting .378 with 14 runs scored, 2 home runs, 2 doubles and 5 RBI.
This will be the first meeting between Delaware State and SIU.
On Quinnipiac...
The Bobcats are 1-7 this year and are playing in their third weekend of games. Last year, Quinnipiac went 23-27 and 9-11 in the MAAC.
Quinnipiac has a team ERA of 4.59. Bobcat ace Casey Herzog leads the way with a 1.98 ERA. She's struck out 28 batters and walked 18 this season.
Two Bobcats are hitting better that .300. Rachel Marchuk is hitting .409 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. Miranda Magana is hitting .367 with a home run and 7 RBI.
This will be the first meeting between Quinnipiac and SIU.
On Rider...
Rider is 2-6 this season and was 6-44 in 2017. Rider and UConn played earlier this year. UConn won the meeting 3-0. The Salukis defeated UConn 5-4 on Feb. 23.
Rider's team ERA currently sits at 5.94. Elyse Cuttic leads the way with a 3.74 ERA. She's struck out 14 and walked 9.
Six Broncs are hitting better than .300 this year. Kiera Swank has the best average, hitting .600 with 4 doubles and 6 RBI.
Rider and SIU have never met.
On UCF...
Central Florida is 13-8 this season and are the only team the Salukis will play this weekend with a winning record. Last year, UCF was 29-23 and were eliminated from the first round of the American Conference Tournament. UCF played Illinois earlier this year and won 3-2. The Salukis lost to Illinois twice this year.
Alea White is the top pitcher for UCF. She has an ERA of 2.24. She's struck out 69 batters and walked 27. She is fifth in the nation in wins, seventh in complete games and 10th in hit batters
The Salukis are 4-1 all-time against the Golden Knights. Southern won the last meeting 5-4 in 2014.
On Maine...
Maine is 4-6 this season and were 19-25 last year.
Maine has a team ERA of 4.91. The best ERA belongs to Annie Kennedy at 1.45. She's started 3 games and appeared in 9.
Rachel Carlson is the only Black Bear hitting over .300. She is hitting .389 with a double, a triple and 4 RBI.
Maine and Southern have met twice with both teams winning once. The Black Bears won the last meeting between the two teams in 2010 5-1.
