SIU faces No. 2 seed Illinois State in MVC Tournament

Wednesday, May 22

Normal, IL

3 P.M.

Southern Illinois University

Illinois State

Photo by: Seth Ellanson

05/22/2019 | 10:28:00 | Baseball

#8 seed Southern Illinois (25-27) vs. #2 seed Illinois State (32-22) // May 22, 2019 // Normal, Ill. (Duffy Bass Field) // Tournament Bracket (PDF) | SIU Pre-Tournament Notds (PDF) | SIU Game Notes Addendum, 5/22 (PDF)

Southern Illinois beat Bradley 7-4 on Tuesday to advance to the six-team, double-elimination portion of the 2019 MVC Tournament. The Salukis face MVC co-champion and No. 2 seed Illinois State at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN+. The Salukis will face MVC Pitcher of the Year Brent Headrick.

Wednesday, May 22 vs. Illinois State // 3 p.m. CT » ESPN+ | Audio (also on TuneIn) | Live Stats | Twitter

STARTING PITCHERS

SIU RHP Mason Hiser (4-3, 4.66 ERA, 67.2 IP)
ILS LHP Brent Headrick (8-3, 3.69 ERA, 83.0 IP)

AROUND THE HORN

No. 8-seeded Southern Illinois defeated fifth-seeded Bradley on Tuesday to advance to the double-elimination portion of the MVC Tournament. The Salukis open that vs. No. 2-seed Illinois State at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
With Tuesday's 7-4 win over Bradley, SIU has won at least one MVC Tournament game in eight of nine seasons under head coach Ken Henderson (0-2 in 2017). Henderson was the interim head coach for SIU in 1994, and the Salukis also won one game in that MVC Tournament.
SIU has 140 stolen bases this year, breaking a 48-year old program record set by the 1971 College World Series team. Coming into the tournament, Southern Illinois ranked fourth in the nation in stolen bases per game (2.73) and fifth in total stolen bases (139)
SIU Single-Season Stolen Base Record
1. 2019 (140)
2. 1971 (139)
3. 1974 (136)
4. 2018 (131)
SIU went 19-9 (.679) at Itchy Jones Stadium this year, the program's best home record by winning percentage since 2008 (15-6 [.714]).
6-4-3 charts lists SIU as the fastest team in the nation, top to bottom. Southern's "team speed score" (8.3) is tied with Southern for No. 1 in the country. The Speed Score is comprised of sftolen bases, stolen base percentage, triples, runs scored, and avoiding GDPs.
The Salukis rank No. 39 nationally in offensive efficiency (runs/hits). SIU is scoring 0.726 runs per hit this year, which is second in the MVC behind DBU (15th, 0.753).
Trey McDaniel earned his MVC-leading 13th save of the season on Tuesday night vs. Bradley. McDaniel's 13 saves lead the MVC and rank seventh in the nation. McDaniel saved all three games of SIU's sweep of Evansville, becoming the first Saluki since Bryant George in 2007 to save every game of a series.
J.T. Weber went 3-for-4 in Tuesday's win over Bradley. He comes into the Illinois State game with an active seven-game hitting streak and 14-game reached base streak. Weber is 15-for-24 in his last six games, with five multi-hit games in that span.
Dawg bites: SIU is 23-2 when leading or tied after six innings ... SIU is 16-2 when it allows four runs or fewer ... The Salukis are 20-4 when out-hitting an opponent, or when hits are tied ... SIU is 18-7 when it does not allow a home run ... SIU has played 15 one-run games this year, which is tied with Texas for 12th most in the nation. SIU is 9-6 in one-run games ... SIU's 7-4 win over Bradley was the eighth win over top-100 RPI teams this year. SIU has beaten Morehead State twice (RPI #90), Evansville three times (RPI #87), Illinois once (RPI #22), Dallas Baptist once (RPI #24), and Bradley once (RPI #98).