Southern Illinoise University Athletics
League coaches pick Salukis to finish second
01/30/2019 | 9:34:00 | Softball
ST. LOUIS — Coming off a second-straight appearance in the MVC Tournament Championship game, the Southern Illinois University softball team was picked to finish second in the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, the league announced Wednesday.
SIU picked up 84 points and finished 15 points behind the reigning MVC Champs from Drake. The Bulldogs are the preseason favorites after going 45-12 in 2018.
It marks the second-straight season in which the Salukis were picked second in the annual poll, and Southern has been picked in the top-4 in 18 of Blaylock's 20 seasons as SIU's skipper.
"I always look at the polls as more of an affirmation of where people think our program is," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "I don't necessarily think that is the way things will end up. I always tell our kids- it's nice that fellow coaches think you're right up there with Drake, but our goal is to win a MVC Championship every year. We're going to go out and try to do our best every weekend."
The Salukis return 13 letterwinners, including eight starters, from a team that went 31-22 last season. SIU went 12-12 in conference games, which marked the 23rd-straight season in which Southern has finished with a .500 or above record in league play.
Three Salukis were selected to the 2019 Preseason All-MVC team. Maddy Vermejan and Brianna Jones make their second and third appearances on the Preseason All-MVC team, respectively, while Katelyn Massa was named to the team for the first time in her career.
Vermejan is coming off a season in which she led the MVC in on-base percentage (.474) and was named the MVC's Defensive Player of the Year after she committed just three errors as SIU's every day second baseman. Jones, meanwhile, garnered her third-straight Preseason All-MVC honor after a junior season in which she amassed a 26-8 record with a 2.08 ERA over a league-best 232.1 innings of work. Massa was the league's leader in runs batted in (48) and finished second in the Valley in home runs (11) a year ago.
And while Southern's three Preseason All-MVC selections were the most of any MVC school, there were still several notable absences from the list. SIU's Jenny Jansen, who hit .329 with a .525 slugging percentage as a freshman to earn All-MVC second team honors last season, was left off the annual preseason all-conference team as was SIU's first baseman Kyleigh Decker.
"I'm always happy for the ones who made it because it's a show of respect," Blaylock said. "But I always feel like there's a couple of kids that should've made it who don't. Jenny Jansen is a phenomenal athlete who was all-conference last year and I also think Kyleigh Decker is another kid that people need to keep their eyes on. I'm proud of the ones who made it, but hope that the ones who didn't have a little chip on their shoulder and are ready to show some people some things."
SIU opens the 2019 campaign at the Lion Classic in Hammond, La., Feb. 8-10. The Salukis will play Nicholls State twice, Southeastern Louisiana, San Jose State and Mississippi Valley State at the three-day tournament.
SIU picked up 84 points and finished 15 points behind the reigning MVC Champs from Drake. The Bulldogs are the preseason favorites after going 45-12 in 2018.
It marks the second-straight season in which the Salukis were picked second in the annual poll, and Southern has been picked in the top-4 in 18 of Blaylock's 20 seasons as SIU's skipper.
"I always look at the polls as more of an affirmation of where people think our program is," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "I don't necessarily think that is the way things will end up. I always tell our kids- it's nice that fellow coaches think you're right up there with Drake, but our goal is to win a MVC Championship every year. We're going to go out and try to do our best every weekend."
The Salukis return 13 letterwinners, including eight starters, from a team that went 31-22 last season. SIU went 12-12 in conference games, which marked the 23rd-straight season in which Southern has finished with a .500 or above record in league play.
Three Salukis were selected to the 2019 Preseason All-MVC team. Maddy Vermejan and Brianna Jones make their second and third appearances on the Preseason All-MVC team, respectively, while Katelyn Massa was named to the team for the first time in her career.
Vermejan is coming off a season in which she led the MVC in on-base percentage (.474) and was named the MVC's Defensive Player of the Year after she committed just three errors as SIU's every day second baseman. Jones, meanwhile, garnered her third-straight Preseason All-MVC honor after a junior season in which she amassed a 26-8 record with a 2.08 ERA over a league-best 232.1 innings of work. Massa was the league's leader in runs batted in (48) and finished second in the Valley in home runs (11) a year ago.
And while Southern's three Preseason All-MVC selections were the most of any MVC school, there were still several notable absences from the list. SIU's Jenny Jansen, who hit .329 with a .525 slugging percentage as a freshman to earn All-MVC second team honors last season, was left off the annual preseason all-conference team as was SIU's first baseman Kyleigh Decker.
"I'm always happy for the ones who made it because it's a show of respect," Blaylock said. "But I always feel like there's a couple of kids that should've made it who don't. Jenny Jansen is a phenomenal athlete who was all-conference last year and I also think Kyleigh Decker is another kid that people need to keep their eyes on. I'm proud of the ones who made it, but hope that the ones who didn't have a little chip on their shoulder and are ready to show some people some things."
SIU opens the 2019 campaign at the Lion Classic in Hammond, La., Feb. 8-10. The Salukis will play Nicholls State twice, Southeastern Louisiana, San Jose State and Mississippi Valley State at the three-day tournament.
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