Salukis travel to UNI for three-game series with Panthers

Saturday, April 27

Cedar Falls, IA

5 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

University of Northern Iowa

Photo by: Will Becque

04/25/2019 | 1:52:00 | Softball

SB Game Notes at UNI

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois University softball team heads to Cedar Falls, Iowa for a pivotal Missouri Valley Conference series against the Northern Iowa Panthers. The two teams are currently in second and third in the MVC standings, respectively and will play the first of three games inside the UNI Dome on Saturday, April 27 at 5 p.m. Game two and three are still to be determined as far as start times are concerned.

All-time vs. the Panthers

• The Salukis hold a commanding 75-38 series lead against the Panthers.
• Southern won two out of three games against UNI at Charlotte West Stadium last season.
• SIU's last series win at UNI came in 2007. The Salukis sport a 20-14 record in games played in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
• The Salukis are 38-19 all-time against the Panthers under 20th year head coach Kerri Blaylock.

Current Salukis vs. the Panthers

• Jenny Jansen is a lifetime .500 (5-for-10) career hitter in three career games against the Panthers. Jansen hit a home run, drove in three runs and scored twice in last season's series win over Northern Iowa.
• Brianna Jones is 5-2 in seven career appearances against the Panthers. Jones has a career 2.55 ERA against UNI and has allowed 16 earned runs in 44 career innings with six complete games and two shutouts. Last season, Jones recorded both wins over the Panthers in SIU's series win, as she went 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA in 12 innings.
• Susie Baranski hit .429 last season in three games against the Panthers- she went 3-for-7 with a double and a RBI. Baranski was 2-for-10 against UNI as a freshman- which included one of her two career home runs.

Record Breaker

• Brianna Jones went four and two third innings and allowed two earned runs on two hits to earn the win in SIU's 9-3 victory at SEMO on April 16.
• The win was the 85th of her storied career- which broke Amy Harre's career wins record of 84.
• Earlier this season, Jones also became SIU's all-time leader in career appearances.

More History

• Brianna Jones continues to climb higher up SIU's all-time career pitching list in several additional categories.
• Jones is just 3.1 innings shy of becoming the second Saluki, and just the seventh Missouri Valley Conference pitcher, to throw 800-plus innings in a career.
• Jones is 24 innings shy of passing Amy Harre (820.1 IP) for the most innings pitched in school history.
• Jones is second in the MVC in wins (18) and is the only pitcher in program history to twice lead the league in wins (2016, 2018). Drake's Nicole Newman leads the league with 21 victories in the circle.
• She is also second in the league (to Newman) in saves (4).

Jones ranking among active DI Pitchers
1st - Innings Pitched - 796.1
1st - Complete Games - 87
4th - Appearances - 158
5th - Victories - .685 win %
5th - Saves - 13
8th - Shutouts - 25
13th - Games Started - 103
16th - Strikeouts - 608

Jones rank in MVC History
2nd - Wins - 85
6th - Career Appearances - 158
7th - Innings Pitched - 796.1
9th - Complete Games - 87
T-15th - Shutouts - 25
T-17th - Games Started - 103

4-0 In Non-Conference Mid-Weeks

• Southern defeated SEMO, 9-3 in Cape Girardeau, Mo. on April 16.
• In doing so, SIU improved to 4-0 in non-conference mid-week games and posted another top-60 RPI win, as SEMO came in ranked No. 58 in the RPI.
• SIU also went 4-0 in non-conference mid-week games a year ago and have won nine-straight non-conference mid-week games dating back to 2017.
• It is the third time in the last four seasons that SIU has posted four wins in non-conference mid-week games and Southern is 14-1 in those games since 2016.

Crossing the Plate

• Susie Baranski scored her 94th career run in the split with Loyola to crack the top-25 in school history.
• Baranski is tied with Jamie Schuttek, Haley Viefhaus and Lauren Haas for the 21st-most runs scored in program history.
• The junior slap hitter needs to score just six runs to become the 19th Saluki to reach the century mark in runs scored.

100 Career RBI

• Katelyn Massa led the league in RBI last season. She went 3-for-4 with two RBI in SIU's 8-3 win over Loyola on April 20.
• In doing so, she became the 16th Saluki to reach the century mark for runs driven in.

Stealing at a high rate

• Kyleigh Decker, who hit her seventh home run of the season in SIU's win over SEMO, is 8-for-8 on the season in stolen base attempts.
• For her career, the Casey, Ill. native is a perfect 12-for-12.
• Only four Salukis have ever finished their careers without ever being caught stealing, and only one, Dee Stull (1977-80) played all four seasons as a Saluki.

1 of only 2

• Maddy Vermejan is tied for the league-lead in fielding percentage with a perfect 1.000%.
• Vermejan is one of only two second basemen nationally with a 1.000 fielding percentage. Fairfield's Alisha Marshall is the other.

Multi-Hit Games

• Jenny Jansen has tallied multiple hits in 16 games this season, while Ashley Wood has done so in 12 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.

Reaching Base

• Maddy Vermejan has reached base in 16-straight games dating back to SIU's series opener against Valpo on March 23.
• Vermejan has a .364/.636/.548 split during that time frame with 11 hit by pitches and seven walks.
• It is the third-longest streak of Vermejan's career. She reached base in 19-straight games in 2018 and in 18-straight games as a freshman.
• SIU has had 23 streaks of 15-plus games since 2003. Vermejan is the only player in that time frame to record three reached base streaks of 16 or more games.
• Allie Vadeboncouer had a 28-game reached base streak in 2014 that is the longest since 2003.

Fielding at a high rate

• The Salukis moved up to third in the nation in fielding percentage (.979).
• It would be the highest that SIU has finished nationally in fielding percentage.
• SIU has finished in the top-15 nationally in fielding percentage three times, most recently in 2017 when Southern ended the season at No. 8.
• Southern's highest finish is 2007, when the Salukis finished fourth in the nation in fielding percentage.
• All three times (2017, 2007, 1991) that SIU has finished top-15 nationally in fielding percentage they have advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
• Southern has committed just 23 errors in 39 games this season. The school record for fewest errors in a season is 35 in 1977, when SIU played just 30 games. In the modern era, Southern made just 36 errors in 57 games during the 2017 season that saw SIU make its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance.
• SIU's .979 fielding percentage would also be a school record.

RPI

• SIU is one of two MVC teams ranked in the top-50 of the RPI. Drake is No. 24 while Southern sits at No. 47.
• It is SIU's highest RPI ranking since 2007, when Southern finished the season at No. 33. The '07 Salukis won five games against Top-25 opponents and 15 total against Top-100 opponents.
• Southern cracked the Top-45 in five-straight seasons from 2003-07 and finished as high as 28th in 2005. The Salukis received five-straight at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament during that stretch.

Getting On Base

• The Salukis lead the Missouri Valley Conference, and rank 16th nationally, with a .412 on-base percentage.
• Southern last led the league in on-base percentage in 2014 and 2012 was the last, and only time, in which SIU finished a season with a .400 or better on-base percentage.
• The school record for on-base percentage is .402 set in 2012.
• Nine Salukis currently have .400 or better on-base percentages, led by Maddy Vermejan, who has a .486 on-base percentage.

Slugging past opponents

• Southern is 21-3 this season when out-hitting their opponent.

First Run is Key

• SIU is 24-4 this season when scoring the first run of the game.
• Southern is just 4-7 when its opponents score first.

Six or more

• The Salukis are 16-0 this season when scoring 6-or more runs, including 8-0 when scoring 10-plus.

10-plus hits

• SIU has cranked out 10-plus hits in three-straight games and in five of its last six games. Southern's streak of three-games with 10-plus hits is its longest since 2014. The Salukis went five-straight games with 10-plus hits in 2012.
• Southern has tallied 10 or more hits in 12 games this season, including a season-high 14 in a 20-1 win over Valparaiso on March 23.
• SIU had 11 games with 10 or more hits in 2018 and the Salukis' 12 games this season with 10-or more hits are their most since 2014.