Saluki Softball partners with Blast Motion
08/01/2018 | 12:02:00 | Softball
The Salukis will integrate Blast's softball sensor technology into their program.
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Saluki softball team has partnered with Blast Motion, an information company that provides motion analysis and performance insights, to integrate Blast's softball sensor technology, mobile app and cloud services into their storied program. Utilizing Blast's motion capture technology, Saluki hitters will soon be able to analyze their swings and have access to metrics such as launch angle, exit velocity, bat speed and estimated ball flight distance, to name a few.
Southern has historically been known for its superb pitching. For instance, SIU has led the Valley in team earned run average 11 times since 1993 and have finished in the top-3 in the league in the category in 13 of head coach Kerri Blaylock's 19 seasons at the helm. The Salukis have also produced four Missouri Valley Conference Pitchers of the Year in Erin Stremsterfer (2001), Amy Harre (2005), Cassidy Scoggins (2006) and Danielle Glosson (2010) during that stretch. However, it has been the offense that has been on an upward trend over the past 10 seasons with the arrival of associate head coach Jen Sewell.
This past season, the Salukis led the Missouri Valley Conference in runs, home runs and runs batted in and finished second in the league in walks and slugging percentage. It marked the first time since 2005 that Southern led the league in round-trippers while Southern's second place finish in slugging percentage was it's highest since 2011. Under Sewell's tutelage, SIU has also finished in the top-half of the league in on-base percentage in nine of her 10 seasons on staff and have led the Valley in walks six times, including five-straight seasons from 2010-14.
"The Blast sensor, Blast Vision, and Blast Motion will make us better and will confirm and reaffirm what we've been doing for the past 10 years here offensively," Sewell said. "When you have a program that has historically pitched as well as we have, we continue to want to match those pitching performances with a big offense. Blast will allow us to measure, visualize, and evaluate swings and hits better than ever. Metrics are the way of the game and are how hitters want to train. We have been tops in (the Missouri Valley Conference) in a number of categories over the last few years that score runs and win ballgames but all we've had to measure it with is a stat sheet and the win-loss column. Now we will have 15+ metrics, video, spray charts, cloud services, player apps, 3D swing tracers and more at our disposal."
The Blast sensor attaches to any softball bat. During a player's hitting session, she will simply place their phone on a tripod, setup the camera and hit a few balls. When they're done with their session, they will find video of their swing individually clipped with metrics overlaid to show a visual representation of each hit. The app automatically clips video of each individual swing and provides real-time swing analysis and voice feedback.
"SIU has a long-standing tradition of excellence and their adoption of Blast technology is fantastic news for softball," Blast Softball's Channel Manager Vanessa Soto-Laughlin said. "Kerri Blaylock and her staff are forward thinking and innovative at a time in which data-driven analysis within softball is at an all-time high. There's no doubt that SIU will gain a competitive advantage from it's partnership with Blast."
The Salukis are the first program in the Missouri Valley Conference to partner with Blast Motion. Southern has made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, most recently in 2017, and last season advanced to the MVC Tournament Championship game for the second-straight season. SIU also won 30-plus games for the third-straight season and it marked the 16th time in Coach Blaylock's 19 seasons at the helm that SIU has won at least 30 games. Southern's 24 30-plus win seasons since 1983 are the most in the Valley during that time period.
"What really sold me on Blast was their work with major league baseball and to watch some of the top offensive college softball teams come on board with them as well as their amazing relationship with the National Pro Fastpitch teams," Sewell said. "Then the NCAA green lit in-game sensor use and it became a no-brainer to me. Up until then we knew we could train hitters in practice settings but the fun part came when we were given the go-ahead to train hitters all off-season and then turn them loose with a sensor on in the game to see if we can get them to react with the same metrics. That is really going to be the exciting part and the ability to make those little adjustments for hitters is equally exciting. In the end it just allows us to send a smarter, more confident hitter to the plate."
Blast's sensor is used by more than 150 professional golfers and is the official sensor tech of both Major League Baseball and the National Fastpitch League. In 2016, the company inked a deal to become the official swing sensor of the Houston Astros and the Astros went on to win their first World Series in 2017. Blast also boasts Team USA's Lauren Chamberlain, the NCAA's all-time leader in career home runs, and the Astros' Carlos Correa as brand ambassadors.
Southern has historically been known for its superb pitching. For instance, SIU has led the Valley in team earned run average 11 times since 1993 and have finished in the top-3 in the league in the category in 13 of head coach Kerri Blaylock's 19 seasons at the helm. The Salukis have also produced four Missouri Valley Conference Pitchers of the Year in Erin Stremsterfer (2001), Amy Harre (2005), Cassidy Scoggins (2006) and Danielle Glosson (2010) during that stretch. However, it has been the offense that has been on an upward trend over the past 10 seasons with the arrival of associate head coach Jen Sewell.
This past season, the Salukis led the Missouri Valley Conference in runs, home runs and runs batted in and finished second in the league in walks and slugging percentage. It marked the first time since 2005 that Southern led the league in round-trippers while Southern's second place finish in slugging percentage was it's highest since 2011. Under Sewell's tutelage, SIU has also finished in the top-half of the league in on-base percentage in nine of her 10 seasons on staff and have led the Valley in walks six times, including five-straight seasons from 2010-14.
"The Blast sensor, Blast Vision, and Blast Motion will make us better and will confirm and reaffirm what we've been doing for the past 10 years here offensively," Sewell said. "When you have a program that has historically pitched as well as we have, we continue to want to match those pitching performances with a big offense. Blast will allow us to measure, visualize, and evaluate swings and hits better than ever. Metrics are the way of the game and are how hitters want to train. We have been tops in (the Missouri Valley Conference) in a number of categories over the last few years that score runs and win ballgames but all we've had to measure it with is a stat sheet and the win-loss column. Now we will have 15+ metrics, video, spray charts, cloud services, player apps, 3D swing tracers and more at our disposal."
The Blast sensor attaches to any softball bat. During a player's hitting session, she will simply place their phone on a tripod, setup the camera and hit a few balls. When they're done with their session, they will find video of their swing individually clipped with metrics overlaid to show a visual representation of each hit. The app automatically clips video of each individual swing and provides real-time swing analysis and voice feedback.
"SIU has a long-standing tradition of excellence and their adoption of Blast technology is fantastic news for softball," Blast Softball's Channel Manager Vanessa Soto-Laughlin said. "Kerri Blaylock and her staff are forward thinking and innovative at a time in which data-driven analysis within softball is at an all-time high. There's no doubt that SIU will gain a competitive advantage from it's partnership with Blast."
The Salukis are the first program in the Missouri Valley Conference to partner with Blast Motion. Southern has made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, most recently in 2017, and last season advanced to the MVC Tournament Championship game for the second-straight season. SIU also won 30-plus games for the third-straight season and it marked the 16th time in Coach Blaylock's 19 seasons at the helm that SIU has won at least 30 games. Southern's 24 30-plus win seasons since 1983 are the most in the Valley during that time period.
"What really sold me on Blast was their work with major league baseball and to watch some of the top offensive college softball teams come on board with them as well as their amazing relationship with the National Pro Fastpitch teams," Sewell said. "Then the NCAA green lit in-game sensor use and it became a no-brainer to me. Up until then we knew we could train hitters in practice settings but the fun part came when we were given the go-ahead to train hitters all off-season and then turn them loose with a sensor on in the game to see if we can get them to react with the same metrics. That is really going to be the exciting part and the ability to make those little adjustments for hitters is equally exciting. In the end it just allows us to send a smarter, more confident hitter to the plate."
Blast's sensor is used by more than 150 professional golfers and is the official sensor tech of both Major League Baseball and the National Fastpitch League. In 2016, the company inked a deal to become the official swing sensor of the Houston Astros and the Astros went on to win their first World Series in 2017. Blast also boasts Team USA's Lauren Chamberlain, the NCAA's all-time leader in career home runs, and the Astros' Carlos Correa as brand ambassadors.
9.18.25 | Drew Steffe with Rodney Watson
Thursday, September 18
9.17.25 | Saluki Radio Football Podcast - SEMO
Wednesday, September 17
Inside Saluki Athletics - September 16th
Wednesday, September 17
9.16.25 | Coach Nick Hill Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, September 16