Softball returns home for Saluki Invitational

Friday, March 8

Carbondale, Ill.

4:45 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Miami University (OH)

03/07/2019 | 9:08:00 | Softball

Game Notes (PDF)

The three-day, six-team event gets underway on Friday, March 8.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University softball team hosts the Saluki Invitational at Charlotte West Stadium beginning Friday, March 8. Joining SIU for the three-day, six-team event will be University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Butler and Miami (OH). SIU's four games this weekend will all be streamed on ESPN+.

Tournament Schedule

Friday, March 8
10 a.m. - University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) vs. Iowa
12:15 p.m. - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay vs. Iowa
2:30 p.m. - UIC vs. Butler
4:45 p.m. - SIU vs. Miami (OH)
7 p.m. - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay vs. Butler

Saturday, March 9
10 a.m. - Miami (OH) vs. UIC
12:15 p.m. - SIU vs. UIC
2:30 p.m. - SIU vs. University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
4:45 p.m. - Miami (OH) vs. Butler
7 p.m. - Iowa vs. Butler

Sunday, March 10
10 a.m. - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay vs. Miami (OH)
12:15 p.m. - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay vs. Iowa
2:30 p.m. - Miami (OH) vs. Iowa
4:45 p.m. - SIU vs. Butler

Scouting the RedHawks

The RedHawks have won two of their last three and come into the Saluki Invitational with an 8-6 record.
Ashton Slone, who was named to the Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Team last season, leads the RedHawks, and the MAC, in both batting average (.438) and on-base percentage (.571).
The RedHawks currently lead the MAC in home runs (.86/game).
Miami's Courtney Vierstra ranks sixth nationally in strikeouts per seven innings (11.0) and sports a 1.67 earned run average. She has made four starts and five relief appearances this season.

All-Time vs. Miami (Ohio)

The Salukis are 10-3 all-time vs. the RedHawks and 3-1 against Miami under head coach Kerri Blaylock.
Southern has won two in a row over Miami (OH) and seven of the last eight over the RedHawks.
SIU's most recent wins over Miami (OH) came during the 2014 Coach B Classic. SIU defeated Miami, 9-0 in five innings in game one, and later defeated the RedHawks, 10-3 to close out the tournament.

Scouting the Flames

The Flames are coming off a season in which they captured their second-consecutive Horizon League Championship and made the NCAA Regionals for the second-straight year. The Flames finished the 2018 season ranked 19th nationally in stolen bases per game (1.93).
The UIC Flames come to Carbondale with a 4-10 record. Four of UIC's losses have come against Top-10 teams.
UIC currently leads the Horizon League, and ranks 25th nationally, with a .326 batting average. Lexi Watts leads the way with an even .500 (21-for-42) batting average. She currently ranks 21st nationally and was named the Horizon League Player of the Week after hitting .538 at the San Diego Classic.
Alli Trudeau earned Horizon League Pitcher of the Week honors after she posted a 1.87 ERA over 15.0 innings of work. She allowed four earned runs off 16 hits and struck out five.
The Flames lead the Horizon League in runs per game (5.43).

All-time vs. UIC

The Salukis lead the all-time series against the Flames, 10-3 in a matchup that dates back to 1976.
SIU won the first five meetings between the two squads from 1976-83 before UIC won the next two meetings in 1995.
Southern is 4-2 against UIC under head coach Kerri Blaylock. The Salukis won the most recent meeting between the ball clubs, a 5-0 win on March 13, 2011.

Scouting Green Bay

The Phoenix are 2-3 on the season and haven't played a game in almost a month. Green Bay went 2-3 at the Total Control Invitational in Rosemont, Ill. on Feb. 9.
Kayla Schwebke leads the Horizon League in ERA (1.27) and hits per seven innings (4.14).

All-time vs. the Phoenix

The Salukis are 1-0 all-time against the Green Bay Phoenix.
The only previous meeting between the two programs came in 1996- a 4-1 SIU win at the Western Illinois Invitational.

Scouting Butler

Butler comes into the Saluki Invitational with a 6-8 record and recently went 2-2 at the Hilltopper Classic, hosted by Western Kentucky.
The matchup against SIU will mark Butler's fifth game this season against a Missouri Valley Conference foe- the Bulldogs sport an even 2-2 record in games this season against MVC opponents.
The Bulldogs lead the Big East in stolen bases with an average of 1.43 stolen bases per contest.
Jenna Foreman leads the Butler hitters with a .426 batting average and ranks eighth nationally in stolen bases per game (.85).
Butler's starting pitcher Alyssa Graves averages 7.6 strikeouts per seven innings.

All-time vs. the Bulldogs

Southern is 5-2 all-time against Butler and is 5-1 against the Bulldogs under head coach Kerri Blaylock.
SIU's last win over Butler came during the USF Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. - a 4-1 victory in which Brianna Jones got the win after allowing just one hit in 2 and 1/3rd of scoreless relief.
Jones is 2-0 with a .95 ERA in two career appearances against the Bulldogs and allowed just three hits and one earned run over 7 and 1/3 innings. Both appearances came during her freshman season in 2016.

Games against 2018 NCAA Tournaments

Southern will play its seventh game this season against an opponent that advanced to the 2018 NCAA Tournament in UIC. The Salukis are 5-1 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

Perfecto

• Brianna Jones threw the fourth perfect game in Saluki history, and the eighth perfect game in the NCAA this season, in SIU's 10-0 five-inning win over St. Louis.
• It marked the second no-hitter of Jones' career and her first perfect game- it was the first perfect game thrown by a Saluki since Nikki Waters no-hit Gardner-Webb in 2009.
• It was the 34th no-hitter in the NCAA this season and was the first five-inning perfect game in the Missouri Valley Conference this season.
• Jones became the eighth different Saluki with multiple no-hitters, joining Lori Day, Carisa Winters, Erin Stremsterfer, Amy Harre, Cassidy Scoggins, Ashley Hamby and Danielle Glosson.

Throwing Gas

• Brianna Jones sports an 8-3 record on the season and hasn't allowed more than six hits in any of her 14 appearances this season.
• The Manchester, Tenn. native has allowed two or less earned runs in 13 of her 14 appearances in the circle this season.
• Jones currently ranks no. 3 in program history in career wins with 75. She's seven wins behind Cassidy Scoggins for second and 10 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.
• She is second in program history to Amy Harre (90) with 80 complete games.
• Jones leads all active NCAA DI players in complete games (80) and innings pitched (712.0).

Jones ranking among active DI Pitchers

3rd - Appearances - 140
5th - Victories - 75
6th - Saves - 11
6th - Shutouts - 23
12th - Games Started - 91
13th - Strikeouts - 549

Hits in bunches

• Jenny Jansen hit .600 (6-for-10) with two runs scored, three extra base hits, and 3 RBI at last weekend's Coach B Classic in Chattanooga.
• Jansen notched multiple hits in all three of SIU's games last week, which included a 2-for-4 day at the plate against No. 17 Kentucky in which she hit a two-run home run that tied the game at 5-all in the top of the seventh inning.
• The 2018 All-MVC Second Team selection has now tallied multiple hits in eight of SIU's 16 games this season.

Off to a sizzling start

• Ashley Wood continued her hot start to her freshman season at the Coach B Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn.
• The Orland Park, Ill. native tallied three home runs, five runs scored, seven RBI and a stolen base.
• She became just the ninth Saluki freshman to go yard twice in the same game in SIU's 10-0 five-inning win over St. Louis, which included Wood's first career grand slam.
• It was the 40th time a Saluki has homered twice in a game and she joins Katelyn Massa and Jenny Jansen as current Salukis to accomplish the feat.

Leads all Valley Freshman

• Ashley Wood is tied atop the MVC leaderboard for home runs by a freshman (4) and leads all Valley freshmen in slugging percentage (.733), runs batted in (15) and total bases (33).

Flashing her speed

• Power-hitting first baseman Kyleigh Decker is currently tied for the team lead in stolen bases with five.
• Her five stolen bases through 16 games this season are more than she had in her previous 93 games played (4).
• She is a perfect 9-for-9 in her career when stealing.

More streaks

• Maddy Vermejan has an active streak of 11 steals without being caught that dates back to her freshman season.
• Kyleigh Decker has a current five-game hitting streak that is the longest of her career.

Plunked

• Vermejan has also been hit by 35 pitches in her career, the most amongst active MVC players and the 17th-most in a career amongst active NCAA DI players.

Top-25 in Fielding Percentage

• The Salukis currently lead the MVC and rank 22nd nationally with a .976 fielding percentage.
• Southern has committed just 11 errors through 16 games this season.

Fun while it lasted

• Southern's nine-game win streak came to an end with a 2-1 loss to the Creighton Bluejays on Feb. 24.
• Southern's nine-game win streak was its longest since 2012.

Lots of free passes

• Kyleigh Decker tied the school record with four walks against Mississippi Valley State on Feb. 10.
• She is one of 18 players in the NCAA this season to draw four walks in a game and it marked the fourth time in school history that a batter has drawn four walks.

More on free passes

• Three Salukis- Susie Baranski, Maddy Vermejan and Kyleigh Decker- have already been walked 10 times each this season.
• Every Saluki with seven or more at-bats this season has drawn at least one walk.