Salukis host SIUE Cougars on Wednesday

Wednesday, May 1

Carbondale, Ill.

5 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Photo by: Will Becque

04/30/2019 | 3:19:00 | Softball

SB vs. SIUE Game Notes

The sister schools will meet for the 48th time on Wednesday.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois University softball team will host sister school SIUE on Wednesday, May 1 for its final mid-week contest of the 2019 season. First pitch between the Salukis and Cougars is set for 5 p.m. inside Charlotte West Stadium.

All-time vs. SIUE

• SIUC and SIUE will meet for the 48th time Wednesday in a series that dates back to 1976.
• The Salukis lead the all-time series, 38-9 and are winners of six of the last eight meetings.
• The Cougars won the most recent meeting - a 4-0 win on March 29, 2017 in Carbondale, Ill.
• Two of the last three scheduled meetings between the sister schools, and three of the past five meetings have been cancelled due to inclement weather.

Current Salukis vs. the Cougars

• Katelyn Massa, Maddy Vermejan and Susie Baranski are the only active Salukis with a hit in their careers against the Cougars.
• Brianna Jones took the loss in the circle in 2017 against SIUE- she went six innings, allowed four earned on five hits with four strikeouts.

First time in a while

• The Salukis swept their three-game series with the Northern Iowa Panthers over the weekend.
• SIU's series sweep of the Panthers is just the third three-game sweep at UNI in program history. • Southern did so in 2005 and again in 2007 before completing the sweep with a 7-5, eight inning win in Sunday's series finale.

Chasing More History

• Brianna Jones continues to ascend up SIU's all-time career pitching list in several additional categories.
• Jones is just 6.2 innings shy of passing Amy Harre to become SIU's all-time leader in innings pitched. She sits at seventh all-time in Missouri Valley Conference history in the category.
• The three-time All-MVC First Team selection also ranks in the top-10 all-time in MVC history in several additional categories including: wins (2nd, 88), appearances (6th, 161) and complete games (9th, 88).
• Jones is currently second in the MVC in wins (21) 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 23 victories in the circle.
• She is also tied for second in the league (to Newman) in saves (4).

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.

The Only One

• Maddy Vermejan is tied for the league-lead in fielding percentage with a perfect 1.000%.
• Vermejan is the only second basemen nationally with a 1.000 fielding percentage.

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 25 errors in 41 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. 25 while Southern sits at No. 44.
• 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 .409 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.
• Seven Salukis currently have .400 or better on-base percentages, led by Maddy Vermejan, who has a .484 on-base percentage.

Raking at the Dish

• The Salukis lead the Valley, and rank 31st nationally, with a .307 batting average.
• SIU has led the conference in batting average five times, most recently in 2006.
• Southern has only twice finished a season with a .300 or better batting average. In 1993, SIU hit .301 while the following year, Southern hit a school-record .315.
• Eight of SIU's hitters have batting averages over .300, led by Jenny Jansen's .391 average.

Double-Digit Hits

• SIU has now cranked out 10-plus hits in six-straight games after it did so in all three of its wins over Northern Iowa over the weekend.
• Southern's streak of six-games with 10-plus hits is its longest since 1995.
• Southern has tallied 10 or more hits in 15 games this season, including a season-high 14 in a 20-1 win over Valparaiso on March 23.
• SIU's 15 games this season with 10-or more hits are their most since 2012, when Southern posted 17 double-digit hit games.