Salukis travel to Indiana State for three-game series

Friday, April 12

Terre Haute, IN

3 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Indiana State University

Photo by: Will Becque

04/11/2019 | 12:36:00 | Softball

Game Notes (PDF)Live Stats ESPN3 (Game 2)ESPN3 (Game 3)

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois University softball program will hit the road again for a three-game set at Indiana State, beginning with one game Friday at 3 p.m. ET. The two teams will follow with a Saturday doubleheader at 12 p.m. ET. Southern leads the all-time series, 73-28, and currently ranks fifth nationally in fielding percentage (.978) and 27th nationally in on-base percentage (.402). Indiana State will broadcast Saturday's doubleheader on ESPN3 while live stats are available for all three games.

Saturday (Game 1) » Watch
Saturday (Game 2) » Watch

All-Time vs. Indiana State

• The Salukis lead the all-time series over the Sycamores, 73-28 in a series that dates back to 1976.
• Indiana State won the series a year ago at Charlotte West Stadium. The Sycamores took game one, 5-2 before SIU rebounded to take game two, 3-2. In the rubber match, Indiana State claimed a 5-3 victory.
• In games played in Terre Haute, Southern is 27-12 all-time.
• The two teams have had very little luck as of late getting games in when the series is in Terre Haute. In 2017 and 2015, the two teams only got to play twice and in 2013 the entire series was washed away.
• Southern swept the last three game series the two teams played in Terre Haute, outscoring the Sycamores, 36-26 in a three-game sweep in 2011.

Current Salukis vs. the Sycamores

• Kyleigh Decker holds the highest batting average for returning Salukis against the Sycamores. Decker hit. 429 (3-for-7) with two doubles and three RBI in last season's three game series.
• Susie Baranski is a lifetime .385 (5-for-13) hitter against the Sycamores. Baranski has a double, triple, four walks and five runs scored in five career games against Indiana State.
• No active Saluki has hit a home run against the Sycamores.
• Brianna Jones has a career 1.75 ERA in six career appearances against the Sycamores. Jones sports just a 1-3 record against Indiana State despite her under-2 ERA, and has allowed just seven earned runs in 28 career innings against the Sycamores.

Scouting the Sycamores

• The Sycamores come into Friday's contest with a 14-24 overall record and have lost four of their last five games and 12 of their last 15 games dating back to March 20.
• Indiana State sports a 4.98 ERA despite averaging 3.97 runs per game.
• The Sycamores are active on the base paths- they currently rank third in the MVC, and 37th nationally, with a 1.58 steals per game average.

Multi-Hit Games

• Jenny Jansen has tallied multiple hits in 13 games this season, while Ashley Wood has done so in 11 games this season.
• For perspective, over the last 16 seasons, the most multi-hit games in a season is 19 by Mallory Duran-Sellers during the 2011 season.

What a streak

• The Salukis had their 10-game win streak snapped after losing at Missouri State, 2-1 on April 9.
• The win streak was not only the longest of the season for SIU, who had a nine-game win streak from Feb. 9-24, but it was Southern's longest since 2011.
• The last time Southern had two 9-plus win streaks in the same season was in 2005, when the Salukis won a program record 47 games to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
• It was tied for the eighth-longest win streak in school history and was tied for the fifth-longest during Kerri Blaylock's tenure as head coach.

Time to start a new streak

• Southern didn't commit an error for 66-straight innings before the fifth inning against Missouri State on April 9.
• During SIU's errorless streak, the Salukis jumped to fifth in the nation in fielding percentage (.978)

Getting closer

• Brianna Jones continues to climb higher up SIU's all-time career pitching list in several categories.
• Earlier this season, she became SIU's all-time leader in career appearances at 154.
• She also moved into second on SIU's all-time wins list and is three wins shy of Amy Harre's school record of 85.
• She is just 47 innings shy of passing Amy Harre for most innings pitching in school history.
• She is also five strikeouts shy of becoming just the sixth Saluki pitcher with 600-plus career strikeouts.
• Jones is tied for the MVC lead in wins (15) and is the only pitcher in program history to twice lead the league in wins (2016, 2018).
• Should Jones lead the league in wins for a third time, she would join Creighton's Tara Oltman (2007-10) as the only pitchers to accomplish the feat.
• She also leads the league in saves (4).

Jones ranking among active DI Pitchers
1st - Innings Pitched - 773.1
3rd - Appearances - 154
5th - Victories - .683 win %
5th - Saves - 13
7th - Shutouts - 25
13th - Games Started - 100
14th - Strikeouts - 595

Getting On Base

• The Salukis lead the Missouri Valley Conference, and rank 27th nationally, with a .402 on-base percentage.
• Southern last led the league in on-base percentage in 2014. In 2012, Southern led the league with a .402 on-base percentage- which marked the last season in which SIU finished with a .400 or better on-base percentage.
• Eight Salukis currently have .400 or better on-base percentages, led Maddy Vermejan, who has a .439 on-base percentage.

4-for-4

• Maddy Vermejan went 4-for-4 with a RBI-double in game two of SIU's three game set against Drake earlier this season.
• The four hits were not only a career-high for Vermejan, but it is tied for the most in a game in the Missouri Valley Conference this season.

Speed in the lineup

• Through 33 games, the Salukis have already surpassed last season's stolen bases total of 33.
• This season, they are 41-for-48 in stolen base attempts.
• Vermejan leads the team with eight stolen bases while Kyleigh Decker is a perfect 7-for-7 on the season.

Slugging past opponents

• Southern is 17-2 this season when out-hitting their opponent.

First Run is Key

• SIU is 20-4 this season when scoring the first run of the game.
• Southern is just 3-6 when its opponents score first.

Six or more

• The Salukis are 13-0 this season when scoring 6-or more runs, including 7-0 when scoring 10-plus.

Winning in Conference play

Southern is four games above .500 (8-4) in league play this season as it looks to secure its 24th-straight season with a .500 or better record in conference play in a streak that dates back to 1995.

A PDF of all of SIU's game notes can be found here.