Salukis take on Missouri State on Wednesday

Wednesday, April 18

Springfield, MO

12:00 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Missouri State University

04/16/2018 | 4:58:00 | Softball

By: Tony McDaniel, SIUSalukis.com

Saluki softball heads to Missouri State on Wednesday for the first part of a home-and-home series. The Salukis are 5-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference and sixth in the standings. A series win over the Lady Bears could go along way towards Conference Tournament seeding and helping the Salukis work out of what has been of tough run of games.

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Leading off...

The Salukis are 22-17 on the season and in sixth place at 5-8 in the MVC.
Junior pitcher Brianna Jones is 18-5 on the season. She has the 11th most wins in the nation.
Sophomore Katelyn Massa is challenging the single-season RBI record. She has 39. The program record is 51. There are still 12 regular-season games to play.
Freshman Jenny Jansen is having a breakout season hitting .309 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 649. 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 three 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 third in the nation in hit by pitch per game. She's been hit 19 times in 39 games for an average of .49.
Katelyn Massa is 49th in RBI per game at 1.00 per.
Brianna Jones has won 18 games this year; good for 11th in the nation.
She is also 42nd in the nation in strikeouts with 150.

MVC Leading Salukis...

Vermejan is tops in the Valley in hit by pitch per game with 0.49 per game.
Brianna Jones leads the Conference in wins with 18.

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 (39), hits (38), home runs (7), doubles (11), slugging percentage (.598), walks (20) and total bases (70). She's struck out just 11 times in 117 at-bats, the fewest among all starters..
She has already surpassed her 2017 numbers in doubles, home runs, RBIs, runs scored, total bases, walks and steals.
Massa is on pace to challenge the single-season program record in RBI. The record is 51. She has 39 with 12 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 16 RBI. She leads the team in batting average (.346), runs scored (28), hit-by-pitches (19) and on-base percentage (.486).
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 18-5 with 149 strikeouts, 40 walks and 18 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.

Movin' on up...

Sophomore first baseman Kyleigh Decker's play at the plate has warranted a move up in the Saluki lineup, and her numbers are moving up with her. Decker hit .500 on the week of 4/9-15 with three RBIs. She's hit safely in four of the last five games and plated four of her 13 RBIs in that stretch. She has seen her average go up from .260 to .284 in that time period.