Salukis set for Puerto Vallarta Challenge

Thursday, February 14

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

10 a.m.

Southern Illinois University

Mississippi State University

02/13/2019 | 8:00:00 | Softball

SIU will face four opponents who played postseason softball a season ago in the program’s second trip to Puerto Vallarta.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois University softball team will face top-flight competition at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge beginning Thursday, Feb. 14. Southern will face four teams that played postseason softball a year ago, beginning with No. 25 Mississippi State at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

Scouting the opposition

Mississippi State | Thursday, Feb. 14 (10 a.m.) | Live Video ($) | Live Stats
• Mississippi State advanced to the NCAA Regional a year ago after it went 38-22.
• The Salukis are 3-7 all-time against the Bulldogs. Southern's last win in the series came on Feb. 20, 2011- a 9-4 win that gave SIU the Bulldog Round-Robin title.
• The Bulldogs went 4-1 during their opening weekend and are currently ranked No. 25 in the NFCA Coaches Poll.
• Mississippi State's Alyssa Loza tossed a five-inning perfect game in a 10-0 win over Valparaiso on Feb. 9.
• The Bulldogs are hitting .311 as a team and holding foes to a .206 average. Montana Davidson, who missed all of last season due to a knee injury, is currently hitting .538 (7-for-13) to lead the Bulldogs.
• As a pitching staff, Mississippi State ranks 17th nationally in earned run average (0.85).
• Emily Williams has been the staff's workhorse thus far, as she's thrown 13.0 innings and allowed just one earned run while striking out 25 batters.

Northern Colorado | Friday, Feb. 15 (12:30 p.m.) | Live Video ($) | Live Stats
• Northern Colorado tied a program record with 28 wins and advanced to the National Invitational Softball Tournament a year ago, the first national postseason tournament for the Bears since moving back to Division I.
• The Bears are 1-4 this season, with a pair of losses to No. 20 Texas A&M.
• New head coach Ben Garcia arrived from Colorado Mesa, where he spent four seasons.
• The Bears return six starters and eight letterwinners from a year ago. Among the key returners is UNC's ace and All-Big Sky second team selection Valerie Vidal.
• Vidal went 18-12 in 215.1 innings in the circle with a 2.86 ERA.
• All-Big Sky first team selection Jordyn Wiatrak is also back after she led the Bears with a .336 batting average last season.
• This will mark the third-ever meeting between SIU and Northern Colorado, and the second-ever meeting between the program's in Puerto Vallarta. The two squads combined for eight extra-base hits and 20 runs in a game that ended in a 10-10 tie due to darkness.
• Southern leads the all-time series, 1-0-1.

Sacramento State | Saturday, Feb. 16 (6 p.m.) | Live Video ($) | Live Stats
• The Hornets made the program's fourth appearance (since 1990) in the NCAA Tournament last season and their first appearance since 2008. Sac State also won its first-ever Big Sky title in 2018 and the team's 31 victories were its most in 10 years.
• Sacramento State returns 14 players from last year's team, including seven positional starters and two pitchers.
• The Hornets were picked to the win the Big Sky in the conference's annual preseason poll and went 3-2 at their season-opening tournament.
• Reigning Big Sky MVP Suzy Brookshire leads the Hornets' returners, as the junior outfielder has cranked 33 home runs in her first two seasons.
• Second-team All-Big Sky Nene Alas leads the Hornets this season with a .538 batting average and four extra base hits.
• This will mark the second-ever meeting between the two programs. Southern won the first meeting, a 2-1 eight-inning win on March 10, 2001.

North Dakota State | Saturday, Feb. 16 (8:30 p.m.) | Live Video ($) | Live Stats
• The Bison went 34-19 in 2018, claimed the program's ninth Summit League tournament championship, eighth regular season title and won a NCAA tournament game for the fifth-straight season.
• North Dakota State was picked to the win the Summit League.
• The Bison return three all-Summit League selections from a year ago including first team second baseman Zoe Stavrou.
• Madyson Camacho comes into the week as NDSU's top hitter with a .400 (6-for-15) average.
• The Bison are 3-1 this season, with their lone loss coming at the hands of Texas State.
• This will mark the first-ever meeting between the Bison and the Salukis.

Puerto Vallarta Challenge history

• Southern was one of the first programs to play a collegiate softball game outside of the United States when it came to Puerto Vallarta in 2015.

Last win over a nationally ranked opponent

• The Salukis will face the No. 25 Mississippi State Bulldogs on Thursday, which will mark the third-straight season that SIU has faced a ranked opponent.
• Southern's last win over a ranked opponent came in 2013- a 5-4 win over No. 14 South Florida.

Massa named MVC Player of the Week

• Katelyn Massa hit a team-best .500 (5-for-10) with three doubles, three walks and six RBI last week to earn MVC Player of the Week.
• Her six RBI and three doubles were tied for the most by a Valley player during the season's opening weekend.
• Massa recorded a double in three-straight games to open the season and notched back-to-back multi-hit games as well.
• In SIU's 7-6 win over Southland Conference preseason favorite Nicholls, Massa went 2-of-3 with a double, a walk and three RBI.
• In Southern's 15-3 win over Mississippi Valley State, Massa drew a pair of walks, was hit by a pitch and drove in a run.
• Defensively, the Wildwood, Mo. native threw out two of the three would-be base stealers.

Jones Chasing History

• Brianna Jones became just the fifth pitcher in program history to earn three All-MVC First Team selections after she went 26-8 with a 2.08 earned run average during her junior season.
• She joined Jamie Schuttek (1994-97), Carisa Winters (1998-2000), Amy Harre (2002-05), Cassidy Scoggins (2005-07) as the only Saluki pitchers to do so. Of the four to previously accomplish the feat, only Winters has yet to be inducted into the SIU Hall of Fame.
• Jones has led the league in wins in two of her three collegiate seasons and is now 153 innings shy of breaking Amy Harre's school record for innings pitched.
• With her next win, Jones will break a three-way tie with Erin Stremsterfer and Jamie Schuttek for third on SIU's all-time wins list.

A historic sophomore season for Massa
• Katelyn Massa became just the fifth Saluki catcher in program history to earn All-MVC First Team honors and just the second to do so in the last 20 years.
• She joined Allie VadeBoncouer, Brook Hattermann, and Laurie Wilson as the only Saluki catchers to repeat as all-conference selections.
• Massa also tied the school record for doubles in a game (3) vs. Stony Brook on Feb. 24, 2018 and went on to crank out the eighth-most home runs (11) in a season in program history.
• The MVC leader in runs batted in, Massa's 48 RBI were the fourth-most in a season in program history.

Good Things Come in Pairs
• Massa belted two home runs in a win over 13-4 win over Georgetown last season, which marked the third time in her career in which she's gone deep twice in a game.
• Her three two-home run games are tied with Katie Wilson for the most through two seasons in school history. Only Wilson has more career multi-home run games (4).

Raking to all fields
• Maddy Vermejan tallied 16 multi-hit games in 2018- the most by a Saluki since 2013. She notched her first two-hit game of the 2019 in SIU's 6-1 win over San Jose State, as she went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and a RBI.

Off to a good start
• Jenny Jansen picked up where she left off after she was named to the All-MVC second team as a freshman.
• Jansen's 15 multi-hit games in 2018 were the second-most by a freshman in program history.
• She notched her first multi-hit game of 2019, as she went 2-for-3 with a RBI in Southern's win over San Jose State.
• She also roped the first triple of her career in SIU's 15-3 win over Mississippi Valley State on Feb. 10 and has yet to strikeout- one of 16 players in the MVC who has yet to do so.

Tied A School Record
• Kyleigh Decker went 0-for-0 with four walks, two runs scored, a stolen base and a RBI in SIU's 15-3 win over Mississippi Valley State. Her four walks tied Kalyn Harker's 2012 school record.