Salukis host Evansville on Alumni Weekend

Friday, May 3

Carbondale, Ill.

5 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Evansville

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05/02/2019 | 6:10:00 | Baseball

Southern Illinois (19-22, 1-11 MVC) vs. Evansville (21-19, 8-4 MVC) // May 3-5, 2019 // Carbondale, Ill. (Itchy Jones Stadium) // SIU Game Notes PDF

The Southern Illinois baseball program hosts Evansville for a three-game series at Itchy Jones Stadium. NOTE: Friday's game has been moved up to 5 p.m. due to potential threat of weather later in the evening. The game was originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Follow @SIU_Baseball on Twitter for the most up-to-date schedule updates.

Friday, May 3 - 5 p.m. // ESPN+ | Audio (also on TuneIn) | Live Stats | Twitter

SIU RHP Mason Hiser (3-3, 5.15 ERA, 50.2 IP)
UE RHP Adam Lukas (5-3, 4.40 ERA, 59.1 IP)

Saturday, May 4 - 4 p.m. // No Video | Audio (also on TuneIn) | Live Stats | Twitter

SIU TBD
UE LHP Nathan Croner (5-5, 3.94 ERA, 64.0 IP)

Sunday, May 5 - 1 p.m. // No Video | Audio (also on TuneIn) | Live Stats | Twitter

SIU TBD
UE RHP Justin Hayden (2-1, 4.33 ERA, 35.1 IP)

AROUND THE HORN

Southern Illinois hosts NCAA Tournament hopeful Evansville for a three game series at Itchy Jones Stadium. Due to anticipated weather, the series opener on Friday night has been moved up to 5 p.m.
Evansville is ranked in the top-50 nationally in the RPI and considered a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament. (Baseball America lists Evansville as "Next Four Out.")
SIU is 14-7 at Itchy Jones Stadium this year, clinching a .500+ home record for a fourth-straight year. SIU is 23 games above .500 at Itchy Jones Stadium since the start of the 2016 season (65-42-1). Seven of the final 10 games of the season are at Itchy Jones Stadium.
Challenging schedule continues...
- Ten of SIU's last 12 games have been against teams ranked in the top-75 nationally in RPI
- Seven of the last eight games have been against teams ranked in the top-35 of the RPI
- Six of the final 10 games of the year are against top-50 RPI teams, starting with #49 Evansville.
- If SIU finishes the schedule with no more cancellations, the Salukis will have played 22 games against top-100 RPI teams
SIU's 12-3 win over Illinois on Tuesday was the program's second-best RPI win in the last decade. The Illini are currently #21 in the RPI. SIU's top win in that span was also over Illinois (RPI #12) in 2015.
Southern Illinois ranks second in the nation in stolen bases per game (2.95) -- one one-hudredth of a point out of the national lead (Fordham averages 2.96). The Salukis rank third in the nation in total stolen bases (121) despite five rain-outs.
SIU ranks 12th nationally in sac flies with 28. Ian Walters ranks fifth in the country individually with seven.
Matt DeSomer has gone nine-straight appearances without allowing an earned run. In his last seven appearances (15.0 IP), DeSomer has allowed just five hits (all singles) and two runs (both unearned). He leads the MVC in opponents slugging percentage (.194).
Dawg bites: SIU is 17-2 when leading or tied after six innings ... SIU is 12-5 when it doesn't allow a home run ... SIU is 12-1 when it allows four runs or fewer (and has won 12-straight such games. The lone loss was 3-2 in 14 innings on the second day of the season) ... The Salukis are 15-3 when out-hitting an opponent, or when hits are tied.

SALUKIS VS. ACES

Friday night's game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Saturday and Sunday's games will be audio-only. Listen to Mike Reis on SIUSalukis.com or the TuneIn Radio app.
SIU has won three-straight series over the Aces and swept each of the last two.
Six of the last 10 games between the schools have been one-run games. The Salukis are 4-2 in those games.
Offensively, Evansville is led by Nate Reeder, who is hitting .354 with 10 doubles and a .450 on-base percentage. Reeder is one of five Evansville players who have been hit 10+ times this year. The Aces have drawn 69 HBP, which ranks 24th nationally.
On the mound, Evansville is led by Adam Lukas, who reportedly hit 100 mph last weekend. Evansville's bullpen has also been a strength. Relievers Michael Parks (2.06 ERA) and Austin Allinger (2.70) have combined to save 11 games.
Last year, Alex Lyon went 7-for-14 in SIU's sweep of the Aces and went on to earn MVC Player of the Week honors.

MVC LEADERS

Team in sac flies (28)
Team in triples (14)
Team in stolen bases (121)
Will LaRue is stolen bases (24)
Ian Walters in sac flies (7)

RUN WITH US

"As much as anything, I think it has helped our mentality. We have become a much more aggressive team, in terms of how we approach the practices and games. It's been great for the identity of the team." - SIU hitting coach Seth LaRue
Will LaRue has stolen 91 career bases, which ranks third in the NCAA among active players. Last season, SIU shortstop Connor Kopach spent the year as the NCAA's active career stolen base leader.
Since the start of the 2017 season, SIU has stolen 352 bases, which is fourth-most in the nation in that span. In the MVC, Dallas Baptist is second in the league in that span (189), trailing SIU by 163 bags.
Trend setters? Since SIU started its current aggressive base-stealing style in 2017, the other seven teams in the MVC have stolen 40 percent more bases.
Five SIU players are top-five in the MVC in stolen bases. Will LaRue is first and Nikola Vasic is third while Addison Fugitt, Ian Walters and Alex Lyon are each tied for fifth.

TWO-SPORT STAR MATT DESOMER EMERGES

SIU relief pitcher Matt DeSomer was a member of the Saluki Football team for the last five years.
DeSomer was a dual-sport athlete in high school before ultimately choosing to play football in college, but he was a strong pitcher and was seen by SIU associate head coach PJ Finigan.
DeSomer was a do-everything player for the Saluki Football team, playing quarterback, wide receiver, safety, and punt returner during his career. He ended his senior season (2018) as the team's starting quarterback.
DeSomer's football career stats: 2,146 yards total offense, 958 rushing yards, 110 receiving yards, 1,188 passing yards, nine tackles, eight punt returns and one kick return.
DeSomer and Cal's Brandon McIlwain are the only two starting quarterbacks in Division I who also play baseball.
DeSomer's baseball career got off to a rocky start, allowing seven earned runs over his first three appearances (1.2 IP). Since then, he has not allowed any earned runs over nine appearances (15.0 IP).
- 1st 3 app: 1.2 IP, 7H, 8R, 7ER, 6K, 3BB
- Since (9 app): 15.0 IP, 5H, 2R, 0ER, 14K, 8 BB
In MVC play, DeSomer has a 0.00 ERA over 10.1 innings with seven strikeouts. He is limiting MVC batters to an .088 batting average, which leads the league.

STREAKS & NOTES

Nikola Vasic has reached base in 86 of 99 career games (86%).
Ian Walters has reached base in 33 of 41 games this year. In 4 of the 8 games Walters has not reached base, he has still recorded at least one RBI.
Ian Walters is 16-for-22 in getting a runner home from third with less than two outs (72%).
Addison Fugitt is 32-for-33 stealing in his career (96.9%). 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.
Matt DeSomer has nine-straight appearances (15.0 IP) without allowing an earned run and has given up just one hit in his last 11.2 IP.
Justin Yeager has recorded two or more strikeouts in 10 of 16 relief appearances this season (71%). Dating back to last year, Yeager has two-plus strikeouts in 16 of 26 appearances (61%).
Trey McDaniel has pitched one-plus innings and allowed no hits and runs while recording at least one strikeout in nine of 20 appearances this season.
Alex Lyon possesses a team-best six-game hitting streak. In that span, Lyon has stolen eight bags and is batting .562 (9-for-16) with seven runs and four RBIs.