Salukis open MVC Softball Tournament play Friday

PEORIA, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University softball team opens Missouri Valley Conference Tournament play on Friday, May 10 at 1:30 p.m. The Salukis will wait for the conclusion of Thursday's contests to know their opponent. Southern will face the winner of No. 3 Northern Iowa vs. Illinois State/Valparaiso.

All-time at the MVC Tournament

The Salukis are 49-51 all-time at the MVC Tournament
The Salukis last won the MVC Tournament in 2017, which marked their first conference tournament title since 1991.
Last season, SIU became the first MVC team since Creighton in 2010 to advance to back-to-back MVC Championship games. It was the second time in school history that Southern has advanced to the conference championship game in consecutive years, as it last did so in 1991 and 1992.
Southern will try to become the first team since the 2003-2005 Creighton Blue Jays to advance to three-straight MVC Tournament Championship games.
Three-straight MVC Tournament Championship game appearances in MVC history: Creighton (2003-05), Illinois State (2000-02), Creighton (1999-01), and Missouri State (1996-98)

History as the two-seed

Southern has been the two-seed five times in program history- most recently in 2009. SIU was also the No. 2 seed in 1990, 1993, 1997 and 2003.
It is SIU's highest seed at the conference tournament since 2010- when the Salukis earned the No. 1 seed. In 2010, the Salukis advanced to the MVC Tournament Championship game, where they lost a heartbreaker to Creighton, 3-2.

All-conference honors

The Salukis tallied six All-MVC accolades, an All-Defensive team honor and junior catcher Katelyn Massa was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Year while first-year shortstop Ashley Wood was named MVC Freshman of the Year.
Massa, second baseman Maddy Vermejan, outfielder Jenny Jansen and pitcher Brianna Jones claimed spots on the All-MVC First Team, while Wood and designated player Jordan Spicer earned All-MVC Second Team recognition.
The Salukis have had at least five earn all-conference honors in four-straight seasons and their six selections are tied for the second-most in head coach Kerri Blaylock's 20 seasons at the helm. Only the 2005 Salukis (8) had more honorees.

MVC Defensive Player of the Year

Katelyn Massa is the second-straight Saluki to win MVC Defensive Player of the Year, as Maddy Vermejan took home the award last season.
SIU is the first program to win back-to-back MVC Defensive Player of the Year awards since the league began handing out the honor in 2015.
Massa was also honored on the MVC All-Defensive Team.
Committed just one error and threw out six of the 17 runners that attempted to steal on her. She was a big reason why SIU held opponents to just 21 stolen bases- the fewest allowed in the MVC.

MVC Freshman of the Year

Ashley Wood is the fifth Saluki, and first since 2003, to win the MVC Freshman of the Year award.
Also earned a spot on the All-MVC Second Team.
Has had one of the best freshman seasons in program history as she leads all Valley freshmen in home runs (9), RBI (44), batting average (.360), on-base percentage (.427) and slugging percentage (.612) and ranks second in the league among first-years in total bases (85), runs scored (29) and hits (50).
Her .360 batting average is the second-best for a freshman in program history while her 44 RBI are the third-most by a Saluki first-year.

Jenny Jansen earns first team nod

Jansen earned her second-straight All-MVC nod after she finished top-10 in the MVC in six statistical categories including fourth in total bases (90), tied for fourth in doubles (12), fifth in batting average (.395), sixth in RBI (40), eighth in hits (58) and ninth in slugging percentage (.612).
Tallied 20 multi-hit games- which are the most by a Saluki since at least 2003.
Her .395 batting average is the eighth-best in a single-season in program history.

Sure-handed at Second Base

Maddy Vermejan was named to the All-MVC First Team after she tied for the league-lead in fielding percentage.
She is the only second baseman nationally to not record an error
The Lemont, Ill. native led the MVC in hit by pitches and finished fourth in runs scored, fifth in on-base percentage and tied for ninth in walks.
The right-handed hitter hit .323 with a team-best .494 on-base percentage and was even better against Valley opponents.
Vermejan slashed .413/.683/.580 with four home runs and five doubles in SIU's 23 league games.
Her .580 on-base percentage in conference games was the best in the Valley.

Four-Straight First Team Selections

Brianna Jones was named to the All-MVC First Team for the fourth-straight season.
She joins Amy Harre and Shelly Gibbs as the only players in program history to earn four First-Team selections.
Jones was again superb in the circle, as she went 23-8 with a 2.04 ERA in 175.1 innings of work. The senior hurler tallied four shutouts, four saves and 131 strikeouts during a season in which she became SIU's all-time leader in wins, appearances and innings pitched.

First Time in her last go-around

Jordan Spicer earned her first career all-conference honor after she claimed a spot on the All-MVC Second Team.
The Hendersonville, Tenn. native had the best season of her Saluki career, as she hit .301 with a double, seven home runs and 10 driven in.
The right-handed designated player did significant damage at the dish in MVC play, as she sported a .727 slugging percentage with six home runs and 14 RBI in league play.

Leading the League

The Salukis come into the MVC Tournament as the league leaders in several statistical categories.

Batting Average - .308
On-Base Percentage - .407
Hit by pitches - 40
Sacrifice Bunts - 44
Sacrifice Flies - 14
Saves - 7
Fewest Walks Issued - 94
Fielding Percentage - .981
Fewest Errors - 25
Fewest Stolen Bases Against - 21

In Conference-Only Games:

Batting Average - .314
Hit by pitches - 25
Sacrifice Bunts - 27
Fielding Percentage - .985
Fewest Errors - 10

Winning in Conference play

Southern ends the 2019 regular season 11 games above .500 (17-6) in league play this season to secure its 24th-straight season with a .500 or better record in conference play in a streak that dates back to 1995.
The Salukis have won 15-plus conference games in five of the last six years and this season, the Salukis won 17 conference games, which is tied for their most MVC wins since 2005.

Fielding at a high rate

The Salukis moved up to third in the nation in fielding percentage (.981).
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 .981 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. 42.
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.

A full set of Game Notes can be found here.

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Players Mentioned

Jenny Jansen

Brianna Jones

Katelyn Massa

Jordan Spicer

Maddy Vermejan

Ashley Wood

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