SIU visits Bradley for three-game series

Friday, April 12

Peoria, Ill.

6 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Bradley

04/11/2019 | 11:18:00 | Baseball

Southern Illinois (17-12, 1-2 MVC) at Bradley (19-10, 0-3 MVC) // April 12-14, 2019 // Peoria, Ill. (Dozer Park) // SIU Game Notes PDF

Southern Illinois continues its five-game road stretch with a three-game series at Bradley. The Braves own the nation's best team ERA and have won seven-straight games coming into the series.

Game 1 - Friday, April 12 | 6 p.m. // ESPN+ | Audio (also on TuneIn) | Live Stats | Twitter

SIU RHP Dylan Givens (3-3, 5.21 ERA, 46.2 IP)
BRAD RHP Mitch Janssen (2-1, 1.47 ERA, 36.2 IP)

Game 2 - Saturday, April 13 | 2 p.m. // ESPN+ | Audio (also on TuneIn) | Live Stats | Twitter

SIU LHP Blake Begner (3-3, 5.35 ERA, 33.2 IP)
BRAD LHP Brooks Gosswein (3-2, 2.45 ERA, 40.1 IP)

Game 3 - Sunday, April 14 | 1 p.m. // ESPN+ | Audio (also on TuneIn) | Live Stats | Twitter

SIU TBD
BRAD RHP Sam Lund (2-3, 3.94 ERA, 32.0 IP)

AROUND THE HORN

Southern Illinois travels to Bradley for a three-game series in Peoria at Dozer Park. All three games will be broadcast nationally on ESPN+.
Two upcoming giveaways at Itchy Jones Stadium:
- April 20 vs. Illinois State - 100 pairs of free sunglasses
- April 30 vs. Illinois - 100 free t-shirts with the new SIU athletics logo
Last year, SIU and Bradley played an unusual three-game series. The first two games each spanned two days due to weather suspensions, and the third game of the series was shortened to five innings due to lightning.
Bradley holds the nation's best staff ERA (2.09). Bradley has allowed three or fewer runs in 20 of its 29 games. Eight of the nine pitchers on staff with at least 10 innings pitched have ERAs 2.45 or lower. Opponents are hitting just .196 against Bradley's pitching this year.
The Braves come into the series on a seven-game winning streak after beating Iowa 3-1 on Wednesday night.
After seven stolen bases in Tuesday's win at Eastern Illinois, the Salukis lead the nation in stolen bases per game (3.00). SIU's 87 stolen bases rank fourth in the nation.
SIU ranks second in the nation with 24 sacrifice flies. Ian Walters ranks second individually with seven sac flies.
Alex Lyon is riding an active eight-game hitting streak, which is the longest on the team this season. Ian Walters comes into the series with a five-game hitting streak and 11-game reached base streak.
Nikola Vasic has seven multi-hit games in the last 14 games. He his hitting .340/.419/.528 in that span with three doubles, two triples, a homer, 10 RBIs, and six stolen bases.
Trey McDaniel leads the MVC and ranks fifth in the nation with nine saves.
Dawg Bites: SIU is 15-6 in its last 21 games against unranked opponents ... SIU is outscoring opponents 44-18 in the first two innings. The Salukis are 12-4 when they score first ... SIU is 16-1 when tied or leading after six innings.

STREAKS & NOTES

Alex Lyon has an active eight-game hitting streak that has included three multi-hit games. In the streak, Lyon has raised his season average from .205 to .270. He also has five doubles, 10 RBIs, three stolen bases and seven runs scored in that span.
Lyon has driven in at least one run in six of the last seven games. He has 10 RBIs in the last seven games.
Nikola Vasic has an active five-game hitting streak that has included four mult-hit games, including three-straight two-hit games coming into the weekend.
Vasic has scored a run in 10 of the last 12 games.
Vasic reached base in 54 of 58 games last season. He had reached base streaks of 27- and 17-straight games. This year, he has reached in 23 of 29 games.
Ian Walters comes into the weekend with an active 11-game reached base streak. He has reached base in 25 of 29 games this year. In 3 of the 4 games Walters has not reached base, he has still recorded at least one RBI.
Ian Walters is 14-for-17 in getting a runner home from third with less than two outs (82.4 percent).
Addison Fugitt is 30-for-31 stealing in his career (96.8%). He was picked off and tried to advance on Feb. 27 at Belmont, snapping a streak of 18-straight stolen bases without being caught to start his career. He still has not been traditionally caught stealing in his career.
Six of SIU's last 11 games have been one-run games. The Salukis are 5-1 in those six one-run games. On the season, SIU is 8-4 in one-run games.