Salukis host Crusaders for three-game series

Saturday, March 23

Carbondale, Ill.

12 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Valparaiso University

03/20/2019 | 1:03:00 | Softball

Game Notes (PDF)ESPN+ (Game 1)ESPN+ (Game 2)ESPN+ (Game 3)Live Stats

First pitch on Saturday is set for 12 p.m. inside Charlotte West Stadium.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois University softball team is back at home beginning Saturday, March 23 for a three-game series against the Valparaiso Crusaders. First pitch for Saturday's Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader is set for 12 p.m. while Sunday's game is tentatively set for an 11 a.m. start time. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ and fans can listen to all three games on SIUSalukis.com.

Promotions

• It's our annual Blackout Cancer Game. The Salukis will wear black uniforms, information about the Coach Kill Cancer Fund will be available and we will have a cancer survivor throw out the first pitch.
• It's also Bark in the Park. Bring your dog to Charlotte West Stadium for Saturday's noon doubleheader and receive a free dog treat!

All-time vs. Valparaiso

• SIU and Valparaiso have met three times previously, including twice in Missouri Valley Conference play.
• SIU leads the all-time series, 2-1 in a matchup that dates back to 2005.
• This will mark Valparaiso's second-ever trip to Carbondale- the Crusaders played in the 2005 Southern Classic, where the Salukis handed them a 6-0 defeat.
• The two teams split last season's MVC doubleheader- Valpo won game one, 7-6 while SIU returned the favor in game two with a 9-6 victory.

Last Season vs. Valparaiso

• Five different Salukis slugged home runs in the twin bill- Megan Brown, Katelyn Massa and Kyleigh Decker all went yard.
• Jenny Jansen led Southern at the dish during the two games, as she hit .429 (3-for-7) with two doubles and a RBI.
• Massa went 3-for-8 (.375) with a home run and a double.
• Jones took the loss in the circle in game one, as she allowed four earned runs and scattered 10 hits. She rebounded to throw an inning of one-hit relief in game two to earn the save and help SIU seal the win.
• Southern drew eight walks and four hit by pitches in the two games but left 16 runners stranded.
• Both teams tallied eight extra base hits in the two-game set.

Scouting the Crusaders

• The Crusaders come to Carbondale with a 9-10 record after Bradley took two of three from Valpo in their conference-opening series.
• Valparaiso comes in hitting just .238 as a team and opponents are hitting .269 against them.
• Staff workhorse Kelsie Packard comes in with a 7-4 record with one save in 14 appearances.
• She is second in the MVC in strikeouts (76) and second in strikeouts per seven innings (7.6).
• Emily Richardson, who picked up the win in game one against SIU a year ago, is 0-1 this season with a 7.50 ERA.
• Jaymee Lawton leads the Crusaders at the plate with a .348 batting average and a team-best seven extra base hits, including four round trippers.
• Southern held Lawton to just one hit in six plate appearances last year.

Follow the Leader

• Brianna Jones threw her fourth complete game shutout of the season last Sunday to lead SIU to a 1-0 win over Drake.
• In doing so, Jones increased her lead among active DI pitchers in several statistical categories.
• The three-time All-MVC first team selection leads all active DI pitchers in career complete games (82) and innings pitched (740.3).
• She also ranks in the top-10 amongst active DI pitchers in appearances (4th, 146), victories (6th, .670%), saves (6th, 11), and shutouts (5th, 25).

Off to a good start

• Ashley Wood leads all Missouri Valley Conference freshmen, and ranks top-15 nationally amongst first-years, in home runs (T-9th, 6), runs batted in (11th, 23) and slugging percentage (13th, .671%).
• Wood's six home runs this season are tied for the ninth-most by a freshman in program history. Only five Salukis have hit 10-plus home runs during their freshman seasons, led by Katie Wilson's 14 home runs as a freshman in 2007.

Career Day

• Maddy Vermejan went 4-for-4 with a RBI-double in game two of SIU's three game set against Drake over the weekend.
• The four hits were not only a career-high for Vermejan, but she is one of only four players in the Missouri Valley Conference with a four-hit game this season.
• Loyola's Allyson Ivey, UNI's Courtney Krodinger and Indiana State's Bailey Martin have all also tallied four-hit games this season.

Throwing Gas

• Brianna Jones sports a 10-6 record on the season.
• The Manchester, Tenn. native has allowed three or less earned runs in 10 of her 13 starts in the circle this season.
• Jones currently ranks no. 3 in program history in career wins with 77. She's five wins behind Cassidy Scoggins for second and eight shy of Amy Harre's school record of 84.
• With her save against Northern Colorado, Jones broke a three-way tie for fifth on SIU's all-time saves list.
• She is just the sixth Saluki pitcher to reach the 700-inning plateau and is less than 80 innings shy of Amy Harre's school record of 820.1 innings pitched.
• She is second in program history to Amy Harre (90) with 83 complete games.

Senior CLASS Award Candidate

• Brianna Jones was named as one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
• Jones is one of three players from the Valley to be selected as a candidate for the award and is joined by Illinois State's Allison Spence and Drake's Nicole Newman.

RPI

• The first RPI rankings of the 2019 season came out this week, and the Missouri Valley Conference has three teams ranked in the top-75.
• Drake is at No. 35, Missouri State is No. 46 and SIU sits at No. 66. Bradley ranks in the top-100 at No. 89 while Loyola sits just outside the top-100 at No. 101. Valpo comes in at No. 191.
• Including SIU's wins over Drake and Missouri State, Southern also has top-50 RPI wins over Mississippi St. (No. 33) and North Dakota State (No. 47), while Ohio, who SIU took two from earlier this season, is ranked No. 85.

PERFECTION IN THE CIRCLE

• Brianna Jones threw the fifth perfect game in school history in SIU's 16-0, run-rule win over Butler on March 10.
• Jones needed just 57 pitches to set all 15 batters she faced.
• She became the first pitcher in program history to throw two perfect games in a single-season as well as in a career.
• She is the only pitcher in NCAA Division I to throw two perfect games this season.
• She is just the sixth player in NCAA Division I softball this season to record multiple no-hitters.
• She is joined by USC Upstate's Christina Biggerstaff, Louisiana's Kandra Lamb, Virginia Tech's Keely Rochard, UCLA's Megan Faraimo and Houston's Trystan Melancon in doing so.

SPEED IN THE LINEUP

• Through 23 games, the Salukis are already closing in on last year's steal total of 33.
• This season, they are 29-for-32 in stolen base attempts.
• SIU's three times caught stealing are the fewest of any MVC with at least 20 stolen base attempts.
• Both Decker and Susie Baranski have stole six bags, while Maddy Vermejan in third on the team with five.

Fielding Excellence

• The Salukis currently lead the MVC and rank 28th nationally with a .972 fielding percentage.
• Southern has committed just 18 errors through 23 games this season.
• Reigning MVC Defensive Player of the Year, Maddy Vermejan holds a perfect fielding percentage through 23 starts at second base.

Quartet of Runs

• Maddy Vermejan scored four runs in SIU's 16-0 run-rule win over Butler on March 10.
• It was the most runs scored by a Saluki in a game since Kelsey Gonzalez scored four times against Wichita State on Feb. 26, 2014.
• The Lemont, Ill. native was one off Morgan Barchan's school record of five runs scored, which she did against Indiana State on April 17, 2011.
• Vermejan's four runs scored are tied (w/ 65 others) for the most runs scored in a NCAA DI game this season.

Doesn't take much

• Southern is 11-1 this season when holding opponents to two or fewer runs.

Early Lead is Key

• SIU is 7-1 this season when leading after the first inning.

Moving Runners

• Ashley Wood leads the team with a .500 (13-for-26) batting average with runners in scoring position this season.
• Wood has shifted throughout the lineup depending on matchups- she's spent seven games each at the five and seven-spots, six games hitting third and three games in the two-spot.
• In her three games as SIU's two-hole hitter, Wood is hitting .455 (5-for-11) with three home runs, six runs scored and nine RBI.
• In seven games in the seven-spot, Wood is hitting at a .400 (8-for-20) clip with a home run, two doubles and five RBI.

Heating up in the two-hole

• Maddy Vermejan has spent the last six games as SIU's two-hole hitter and has an impressive .467/.600./.600 split with six runs scored, two doubles and four RBI during that stretch.
• In 10 games as Southern's leadoff hitter, Vermejan hit .185 (5-for-27) with a .222 slugging percentage and just one extra base hit.

Table-setter

• Susie Baranski has hit in four-straight games as SIU's leadoff hitter.
• During her four-game hitting streak, Baranski is hitting .462 (6-of-13) with three runs scored and 2 RBI.

Two out approach

• Southern's typical 3-4-5 hitters, Jenny Jansen, Katelyn Massa and Ashley Wood, are hitting a combined .379 (22-for-56) with two outs.
• The rest of the Salukis are hitting .117 (13-of-111) with two outs this season.

Come on down

• Southern has drawn 86 walks through 23 games- a 3.74 walks per game average.
• The school record for walks per game is 4.36, set during the 2014 season when Southern drew 227 walks over 52 games.
• Every Saluki with more than four at-bats this season has drawn at least one walk and three Salukis have drawn 10-plus walks.

Games against 2018 NCAA Tournaments

• Southern has played nine games this season against opponents that advanced to the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
• The Salukis are 6-3 this season in those games.
Sacramento State: W, 6-1
North Dakota St: W, 10-9
Mississippi State: W, 4-1
Ohio: W, 3-0
Ohio: W, 2-1
No. 17 Kentucky: L, 5-6
Drake: L, 0-6, L, 4-6, W, 1-0