Salukis host Indiana State in Friday and Saturday series

Friday, April 13

Carbondale, Ill.

1:00 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Indiana State University

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04/12/2018 | 1:05:00 | Softball

By: Tony McDaniel, SIUSalukis.com

Game Notes (PDF)

Saluki Softball (21-15, 6-4 MVC) plays host this weekend to Missouri Valley Conference Rival Indiana State. A strong showing this weekend could do wonders for the Salukis, the team slid from second to sixth in the MVC Standings after last weekend's series against Drake. A series win or sweep will be big when it comes to Conference tournament seeding.

*Schedule note*
This series was originally scheduled for a Saturday and Sunday doubleheader but was moved to Friday and Saturday dude to rain in the forecast. Friday's doubleheader is set for a 1 p.m. start. Saturday's start time is set for noon, but is subject to change.

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Leading off...

The Salukis are 21-15 on the season. At this point last season, SIU was 21-18.
Junior pitcher Brianna Jones is 17-4 on the season. She has the 17th most wins in the nation.
Sophomore Katelyn Massa is challenging the single-season RBI record. She has 36. The program record is 51. There are still 15 regular-season games to play.
Freshman Jenny Jansen is having a breakout season hitting .319 with 6 home runs and 21 RBI. She is top-10 all-time among freshman at SIU in home runs and doubles.

Milestone/Record watch...

Southern's long time head coach Kerri Blaylock is approaching several big career records and milestones.

As of 4/2 she is...

The all-time leader in wins at SIU with 648. 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 4 wins from her 300th in MVC play. She will be the third coach in Conference history to win that many games.

Nationally Ranked Statistically

(Top-50 only)

Maddy Vermejan is second in the nation in hit by pitch per game. She's been hit 19 times in 36 games for an average of .54.
Katelyn Massa is 46th in RBI per game at 1.03 per.
Brianna Jones has won 17 games this year; good for 17th in the nation.

MVC Leading Salukis...

Vermejan is tops in the Valley in hit by pitch per game with 0.54 per game.
Brianna Jones leads the Conference in wins with 17.
Massa leads the Valley in doubles per game at 0.29.

Starting Fast...

The Salukis are 16-1 this season when they score first, 8-2 when they score in the first inning and 7-1 when leading after one inning. Adversely, the team is 2-5 when trailing after the first inning and 4-7 when allowing runs in the first inning.

Sophomore slump?

Sophomore Katelyn Massa leads the team in RBI (36), home runs (7), doubles (10), slugging percentage (.650), walks (20) and total bases (67). She's struck out just 10 times in 107 at-bats.
She has already surpassed her 2017 numbers in doubles, home runs, RBIs, runs scored, total bases and steals.
Massa is on pace to challenge the single-season program record in RBI. The record is 51. She has 36 with 16 regular-season games to play and the MVC Tournament
Massa has been named the MVC Player of the Week twice this season. First on Feb. 19, after her performances at the Gamecock Invitational and again on March 19, after the Loyola series.
This year sophomore Maddy Vermejan has already hit two home runs and earned 14 RBI. She leads the team in batting average (.350), runs scored (27) and on-base percentage (.504).
In all of 2016, she had just 20 RBI and didn't hit a round-tripper.

Ace in the hole...

Saluki junior Brianna Jones is off to a fantastic start to the 2018 season.
Jones is 17-4 with 137 strikeouts, 38 walks and 17 complete games, three of which have been shutouts. She currently has an ERA of 1.94.
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.
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.
Big Fish...
Senior shortstop Savannah Fisher is having a big year when it comes to run production in comparison to previous seasons.
Fisher has already surpassed her 2017 RBI total with 16 as well as her 2017 home run total with 4. She is third on the team in home runs and fourth in RBIs.

Righting the ship...

Senior Sydney Jones continues to turn around her season at the plate. The senior team captain started the season hitting .333 through the first weekend, but has seen her average drop down as far as .208 this year. Since the Salukis' game against Saint Louis on March 21, Jones has pulled her average up to .243 and has hit safely in seven of the last 10 games. In that stretch, she has homered twice to double her season total and plated six of her 18 RBI on the season.