Saluki Baseball opens 2019 season at Nicholls

Southern Illinois (0-0) at Nicholls (0-0) || Feb. 15-17, 2019 || Thibeodeaux, La. || Dider Field (3,200) || SIU Game Notes PDF

The Southern Illinois baseball opens the 2019 season with a three-game series at Nicholls this weekend. All three games will be streamed for free on Nicholls YouTube Live channel (Video only).

Game 1 - Friday, February 15 // 1 p.m. // YouTube Live | Stats | Twitter

SIU LHP Brad Harrison (5-5, 4.24 ERA, 82.2 IP) - 2018 stats
NICH RHP Trever Kilcrease (Jr.)

Game 2 - Saturday, February 16 // 2:30 p.m. // YouTube Live | Stats | Twitter

SIU RHP Dylan Givens (5-2, 4.18 ERA, 56.0 IP) - 2018 stats
NICH RHP Jake Bedevian (3-6, 5.40 ERA, 93.1 IP) - 2018 stats

Game 3 - Sunday, February 17 // 12 p.m. // YouTube Live | Stats | Twitter

SIU LHP Blake Begner (So.)
NICH LHP Shane Bejia (Fr.)

AROUND THE HORN

SIU opens the 2019 season with a three-game series at Nicholls from Feb. 15-17. All three games will be video streamed on Nicholls Athletics YouTube Live channel. Live stats are available at SIUSalukis.com/baseball/schedule.
SIU ranked fourth in the nation last year in stolen bases with 131.
SIU's pitching staff ranked ninth in the nation in shutouts last year with seven.
The Salukis were picked fifth in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll of head coaches.
Brad Harrison (starting pitcher) and Nikola Vasic (second baseman) were named All-MVC after the 2018 season and return to the 2019 Salukis.
SIU returns six starters on offense and two starting pitchers from last year's 28-30 team. The Salukis added 12 newcomers to the mix.
One newcomer is graduate transfer Will LaRue, who is the nation's active career stolen base leader. LaRue was a starter on two NCAA Tournament teams at Xavier. His brother, Seth LaRue, is SIU's hitting coach.
Alex Lyon is SIU's top returning hitter. Lyon was a two-time MVC Player of the Week last season after hitting .316.
Position changes from 2018: Grey Epps has moved from third base to shortstop; J.T. Weber has moved from third base to first base; Jared Kengott has become a two-way player and joined the Saluki pitching staff; and Matt DeSomer has also joined the pitching staff after playing on the Saluki Football team for the last four years.
JuCo rivals, now teammates: Philip Archer was the 2018 Player of the Year in his junior college conference last year. He edged out Ian Walters for the award, who is also a new Saluki in 2019.
Second baseman Nikola Vasic, whose grandparents were born in Serbia, played with the Serbian National Baseball Team this summer and won a tournament in America over teams from North America, Croatia, and Slovakia.
New toys: SIU baseball added state-of-the-art video and analytics systems to the program in 2019. The BATS! video system is the same system used by MLB clubs, and the FlightScope analytics system gives instant feedback on spin rates, launch angles, exit velocity, and more.
SIU set a program record with a 3.47 team GPA in Fall 2018. The baseball program has set and re-set the program GPA record four times under head coach Ken Henderson.

SALUKIS AT NICHOLLS

SIU opens the 2019 season with a three-game series at Nicholls from Feb. 15-17. All three games will be video streamed on Nicholls Athletics YouTube Live channel. Live stats are available at SIUSalukis.com/baseball/schedule
SIU is 2-7 on opening day since 2010, winning the season openers in 2014 and 2017.
Southern is 10-14 on opening weekend under head coach Ken Henderson. The Salukis are 3-3 the last two years, sweeping at Stetson in 2017, but being swept at Jacksonville State last year.

MVC LEADERS (FINAL 2018)

Stolen bases (131)
Double plays (48)
Shutouts (7)
Triples (13)
Michael Baird in complete games (2)
Ryan Netemeyer in saves (9)
Connor Kopach in stolen bases (33)
Michael Baird in WHIP (1.15)

RUN WITH US

Will LaRue is the NCAA's active career stolen base leader with 64. Last season, SIU shortstop Connor Kopach spent the year as the NCAA's active career stolen base leader.
SIU stole 131 bases last season, which ranked fourth nationally. It was third-most stolen bases in SIU history and the most since 1975.
1. 1971 (139)
2. 1975 (135)
3. 2018 (131)
4. 1981 (119)
Since the start of the 2017 season, SIU has 231 stolen bases. Dallas Baptist is second in that span with 123 (108 less than SIU).
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 tied an SIU single-game record with four stolen bases against Austin Peay.
Four of the top seven base stealers in the MVC last year were Salukis: Connor Kopach (33) led the league; Alex Lyon (29) was second; Nikola Vasic (21) was fourth; and Addison Fugitt (15) was tied for sixth.

ACTIVE STREAKS & NOTES

Nikola Vasic reached base in 54 of 58 games last season. He had reached base streaks of 27, 17, and 10 games. Vasic's 10-game reached base streak remains active from the end of last season.
SIU turned 48 double plays last year, which led the MVC. SIU has led the league in turning double plays in five of the last six seasons.

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Players Mentioned

Philip Archer

Michael Baird

Blake Begner

Matt DeSomer

Grey Epps

Addison Fugitt

Dylan Givens

Brad Harrison

Connor Kopach

Will LaRue

Alex Lyon

Ryan Netemeyer

Nikola Vasic

Ian Walters

J.T. Weber

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