Softball set for MVC Tournament

Tournament Notes (PDF)
Tournament Bracket

Saluki softball (29-21, 12-12 MVC) clinched a three-seed last weekend for the MVC Tournament and enter on a hot-streak winning seven of it last nine games. Southern looks to defend its 2017 in Des Moines title with nearly the same path from last year. The Salukis will have to wait to see who they play in the quarterfinal; the winner of Thursday's 1:30 matchup between Illinois State and Northern Iowa will face the Salukis at 1:30 on Friday. If the Salukis advance to the semi-finals, Missouri State awaits in the semi-final at 6:30. The championship game is set for 1:30 on Saturday.

Weekend schedule

Friday
(Quarterfinal) SIU vs the winner of Illinois State and UNI | 1:30 | ESPN+
(Semifinal) Winner of quarterfinal vs. Missouri State | 6:30 | ESPN+

Saturday
MVC Championship game | 1:30 | ESPN+

Game Notes

Leading off...

The Salukis are 29-21 on the season and clinched a three-seed at the MVC Tournament thanks to a 12-12 record.
Junior pitcher Brianna Jones is 24-7 on the season. She has the 12th most wins in the nation.
Sophomore Katelyn Massa is challenging the single-season RBI record. She has 47. The program record is 51.
Freshman Jenny Jansen is having a breakout season hitting .335 with 8 home runs and 27 RBIs. She is top-five all-time among freshman at SIU in doubles with 11 and hits with 55. She is also top-10 in home runs and batting average.

Milestone/Record watch...

Southern's long time head coach Kerri Blaylock has surpassed several milestones this season

As of 5/4 she is...

The all-time leader in wins at SIU with 654. 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 won her 300th Missouri Valley Conference game on April 28 against Evansville 1-0 in 16 innings.

Nationally Ranked Statistically

(Top-50 only)

Maddy Vermejan is seventh in the nation in hit by pitch per game. She's been hit 21 times in 50 games for an average of .42.
Kyleigh Decker is 40th in the nation in hit by pitch per game. She's been hit 14 times in 50 games for an average of 0.28.
Brianna Jones has won 24 games this year; good for 12th in the nation.
She is also 32nd in the nation in strikeouts with 198.
Sydney Jones is 38th in the nation in sac flies with four.

MVC Leading Salukis...

Vermejan is tops in the Valley in hit by pitch per game with 0.42 per game. Decker is second in the MVC.
Vermejan also leads the league in on-base percentage at .486.
Brianna Jones leads the Conference in wins with 24.

Starting Fast...

The Salukis are 20-3 this season when they score first, 11-3 when they score in the first inning and 8-2 when leading after one inning. Adversely, the team is 5-9 when trailing after the first inning and 7-8 when allowing runs in the first inning.

Sophomore slump?

Sophomore Katelyn Massa leads the team in RBI (47), home runs (10), doubles (11), slugging percentage (.575), walks (27) and total bases (88).
She has already surpassed her 2017 numbers in doubles, home runs, RBIs, runs scored, total bases, walks and steals.
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 hit five home runs and earned 26 RBI. She leads the team in batting average (.359), runs scored (38), hit-by-pitches (21) and on-base percentage (.486).
In all of 2016, she had just 20 RBI and didn't hit a round-tripper.
Vermejan was named as the MVC Player of the Week on April 23, after she hit three home runs and had 10 RBI in a three-game series at Bradley.
Sophomore first baseman Kyleigh Decker is in her first year as a full-time starter.
She's played in all 50 games and is hitting .271 with six homers and 21 RBIs. She leads the team in triples with two.
Last year, Decker appeared in just five games and hit .120 with a homer and 5 RBIs.

Ace in the hole...

Saluki junior Brianna Jones has had a fantastic 2018 season.
Jones is 24-7 with 197 strikeouts, 51 walks and 24 complete games, five of which have been shutouts. She currently has an ERA of 2.13.
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.
On April 28, Jones set a program record for strikeouts in a game with 20 in a 16-inning shutout. Her 16.0 innings pitched in the game tied for the most in program history. Jones and Evansville's starter Morgan Florey struck out a combined 46 batters to set a new NCAA record for combined strikeouts in a game between two starting pitchers.

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Players Mentioned

Kyleigh Decker

Jenny Jansen

Brianna Jones

Sydney Jones

Katelyn Massa

Maddy Vermejan

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