Friday, May 18
Carbondale, Ill.
3 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
vs
Bradley
SIU closes regular season at home vs. Bradley
05/16/2018 | 4:37:00 | Baseball
BRADLEY (29-15, 10-8 MVC) at SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (25-27, 8-10 MVC) // May 17-19, 2018 // Carbondale, Ill. (Weather) // Itchy Jones Stadium (2,000 / Turf) // SIU Game Notes PDF
The 2018 regular season closes with a three-game series at Itchy Jones Stadium against Bradley. The Salukis will honor eight seniors before Saturday's regular-season finale.
GAME 1 - Thursday, May 17 // 6:30 p.m. // ESPN3 | Stats | TuneIn | 105.1-FM WVZA
SIU RHP Michael Baird (5-4, 2.80 ERA, 90.0 IP)
BU LHP Cole Cook (4-5, 5.02 ERA, 66.1 IP)
GAME 2 - Friday, May 18 // 6:30 p.m. // ESPN3 | Stats | TuneIn | 105.1-FM WVZA
SIU LHP Brad Harrison (5-5, 4.65 ERA, 71.2 IP)
BU RHP Mitch Janssen (4-2, 4.55 ERA, 55.1 IP)
GAME 3 - Saturday, May 19 // 2 p.m. // ESPN3 | Stats | TuneIn | 95.5-FM or 1300-AM in southern Illinois
SIU RHP Dylan Givens (4-2, 3.40 ERA, 47.2 IP)
BU RHP Sam Lund (6-3, 5.40 ERA, 53.1 IP)
The 2018 regular season closes with a three-game series at Itchy Jones Stadium against Bradley. The Salukis will honor eight seniors before Saturday's regular-season finale.
GAME 1 - Thursday, May 17 // 6:30 p.m. // ESPN3 | Stats | TuneIn | 105.1-FM WVZA
SIU RHP Michael Baird (5-4, 2.80 ERA, 90.0 IP)
BU LHP Cole Cook (4-5, 5.02 ERA, 66.1 IP)
GAME 2 - Friday, May 18 // 6:30 p.m. // ESPN3 | Stats | TuneIn | 105.1-FM WVZA
SIU LHP Brad Harrison (5-5, 4.65 ERA, 71.2 IP)
BU RHP Mitch Janssen (4-2, 4.55 ERA, 55.1 IP)
GAME 3 - Saturday, May 19 // 2 p.m. // ESPN3 | Stats | TuneIn | 95.5-FM or 1300-AM in southern Illinois
SIU RHP Dylan Givens (4-2, 3.40 ERA, 47.2 IP)
BU RHP Sam Lund (6-3, 5.40 ERA, 53.1 IP)
AROUND THE HORN
- Southern Illinois closes the regular season with a three-game series at home against Bradley.
- SIU will honor its eight seniors prior to Saturday's regular-season finale.
- Southern's eight seniors are Hunter Anderson, Michael Baird, Logan Blackfan, Drew Curtis, Connor Kopach, Allen Montgomery, Ryan Netemeyer, and Jamison Steege.
- The senior ceremony will start at approximately 1:40 p.m. on Saturday.
- Four SIU seniors lead the Missouri Valley Conference in statistical categories heading into the final weekend of the regular season:
- Michael Baird in ERA (2.80) and innings pitched (90)
- Logan Blackfan in RBIs (56)
- Connor Kopach in stolen bases (29)
- Ryan Netemeyer in saves (9)
- SIU leads the all-time series with Bradley, 86-76-1. The teams split a pair of games in Peoria last season. Bradley swept the last series in Carbondale (2016).
- Bradley is the nation's fourth-most improved team from last season. BU was 20-31 last year and is 29-15 this season. SIU was the nation's most improved team from 2015 to 2016.
- The Braves lead the MVC in batting average. They are scoring 7.05 runs per game, which is second in the league behind Dallas Baptist.
- While neither team can win the MVC regular-season title, seeding for the MVC Tournament is on the line. The Salukis can finish anywhere from third to seventh in the MVC Tournament, depending on results. For a complete list of seeding scenarios, click the game notes PDF link at the top of the page and go to Page 3.
- Alex Lyon and Connor Kopach have each stolen 29 bases, making them the nation's No. 1 stolen base tandem.
- In his last six starts (including road starts at top-42 RPI teams Dallas Baptist, Tennessee Tech, and Missouri State), Michael Baird has a 1.44 ERA in 43.2 innings. On the season, Baird's 2.80 ERA leads the league among all pitchers with at least 55 innings (Baird has pitched 90 innings).
- Ryan Netemeyer has 37 career saves, which is second in MVC history.
- Logan Blackfan had his 21-game hitting streak snapped at Evansville, tied for the fourth-longest hitting streak in SIU history.
- Connor Kopach was named to the watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the nation's top shortstop.
- Nikola Vasic has reached base in 48 of the last 50 games. Vasic has separate 27- and 17-consecutive games reached base streaks this season.
- SIU ranks fourth nationally in stolen bases with 121.
- Among active players, Connor Kopach ranks second nationally in career stolen bases (80), and Logan Blackfan ranks fourth in career doubles (67).
RUN WITH US
- SIU has stolen 121 bases through 52 games, which ranks fourth nationally. Already, SIU has stolen the third-most bases in SIU history and the most since 1975.
- 1971 (139)
- 1975 (135)
- 2018 (121)
- 1981 (119)
- Since the start of the 2017 season, SIU has 221 stolen bases. Missouri State is second in the MVC during that span with 112.
- Trend setters? Since SIU started its current aggressive base-stealing style in 2017, the other seven teams in the MVC have stolen 40 percent more bases.
- Alex Lyon and Connor Kopach have each stolen 29 bases, making them the nation's No. 1 stolen base tandem.
- Alex Lyon tied an SIU single-game record with four stolen bases against Austin Peay. Kopach also holds that record, having stolen four bases against Tennessee Tech last year.
- Four of the top six base stealers in the MVC are Salukis: Kopach and Lyon (29) are tied for first, Nikola Vasic (17) is fifth and Addison Fugitt (15) is sixth.
ACTIVE STREAKS & NOTES
- Nikola Vasic has reached base in 48 of the last 50 games. He has recorded consecutive games reached base streaks of 27 and 17 games this season.
- Logan Blackfan had a 21-game hitting streak snapped at Evansville, the longest for an SIU player since Chris Serritella had a 24-game streak in 2012.
- Blackfan's hitting streak was the fourth-longest fourth-longest in SIU history.
- SIU has turned 44 double plays this year, which leads the league. The Salukis are on pace to lead the league in turning double plays for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
- SIU has recorded 10+ hits in three-straight games -- the first time SIU has done that since six-straight games with 10+ hits two months ago (from March 3-10).
- SIU committed at least one error in 13-straight games from April 18 - March 11, but the Salukis have only committed one error in the last three games.
FREE-BASE RATE
- Southern's offense is taking 4.9 free passes per game (walks or HBP). The Salukis have already taken more free bases than all of 2017.
- In wins, SIU is taking 6.1 free bases per game and allowing just 3.24. (+2.7)
- In losses, SIU is taking 3.9 free bases per game and allowing 5.6. (-1.7)
- SIU has only taken more than 5.0 free passes per game seven times in program history, most recently 1997.
- SIU's pitching has also excelled in free-base rate, allowing only 4.5 free passes per game.
- Last year, SIU allowed 5.5 free passes per game. This year's pitching staff is on pace to allow about 75 fewer free base runners than last year.
- In 2017, SIU took about 1.2 fewer free bases per game than it gave away. This year, SIU is taking 0.4 more free bases than opponents -- a 1.6 runners-per-game swing.
Players Mentioned
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