Saluki softball set for The Spring Games

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University softball team will face top-flight competition at The Spring Games beginning Friday, Feb. 14. Southern will face four teams that played postseason softball a year ago, beginning with Middle Tennessee at 11 a.m. on Friday.

Scouting the opposition

Middle Tennessee | Friday, Feb. 14 (11 a.m.) | Live Video ($) | Live Stats

Middle Tennessee advanced to the National Invitational Softball Championships a year ago with a 29-30 record.
The Blue Raiders return 86.5% of their runs, 86.8% of their hits and 85.7% of their home run production from a year ago, highlighted by Conference USA Preseason All-Conference shortstop Summer Burgess.
Middle Tennessee went 3-3 at the Titan Classic in Fullerton, Calif. to open the 2020 season.
The Salukis are 5-1 all-time against the Blue Raiders in a series that dates back to 1997.
Southern won the last meeting between the two teams- an 8-1 victory at the Phyllis Rafter Memorial Tournament in Kennesaw, Ga. on Feb. 19, 2010. Katie Wilson hit two home runs in the win and Southern scored at least one run in six of seven innings.
MTSU's only win in the series came in 2008.

Purdue | Friday, Feb. 14 (1:30 p.m.) | Live Video ($) | Live Stats

Purdue went 34-29 a year ago to earn a bid to the National Invitational Softball Championships. The Boilermakers' 34 wins were the program's most since 2008 and it was Purdue's first postseason appearance since 2009.
Redshirt junior pitcher Sydney Bates is coming off a 13-win campaign in 2019, the most wins in the circle by a Boilermaker since 2016.
Purdue went 5-0 at FAU's First Pitch Classic to open the 2020 campaign, which included an 8-7 win over Indiana State.
This will mark the sixth-ever meeting between SIU and Purdue and the first since 2011. The Boilermakers hold a 3-2 lead in the all-time series.
Southern's last win in the series: a 3-0 victory at the Triple Crown Invitational in St. Augustine, Fla. on Feb. 7, 2003.
SIU's last win over a Big 10 team came in 2017- a 4-2 win over Michigan State in Madeira Beach, Fla. The win was the 600th of head coach Kerri Blaylock's coaching career.

South Dakota | Saturday, Feb. 15 (11 a.m.) | Live Video ($) | Live Stats

South Dakota went 33-28 a year ago to earn a spot in the National Invitational Softball Championships. The Coyotes lost to Purdue, 4-3 in eight innings to open the tournament.
The Coyotes lost three of their five starting infielders from a year ago, returning shortstop Lauren Eamiguel and third baseman Lauren Wobken.
South Dakota went 2-3 at UNI's season-opening tournament to begin the 2020 season. The Coyotes split with the Panthers and defeated Murray State, 9-8 in 10 innings.
South Dakota was picked to finish second in the Summit League preseason poll.
This will mark the first-ever meeting between the Salukis and Coyotes.
Southern's last win over a Summit League school came a year ago when it defeated North Dakota State, 10-9 at the Puerto Vallarta Challenge on Feb. 16.
The Salukis are slated to play five games this season against Summit League opponents, with two games upcoming against Purdue Fort Wayne and one versus Western Illinois.

Monmouth | Saturday, Feb. 15 (1:30 p.m.) | Live Video ($) | Live Stats

Monmouth went 36-18 a year ago and won the MAAC Tournament Championship as the two-seed to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. It marked the second-straight conference championship and NCAA Regional appearance for the Hawks.
The Hawks were picked to three-peat as MAAC Champions in the league's annual preseason poll. 2019 MAAC Co-Rookie of the Year Lindsey Baron was chosen as the conference's Preseason Player of the Year.
2019 MAAC Pitcher of the Year Alyssa Irons returns after sophomore season that saw her shatter the program record for wins (30) and innings pitched (269.1).
Monmouth opens the season at The Spring Games and its matchup against SIU will be its fourth game of the season.
This will mark the first-ever meeting between SIU and Monmouth.
Southern's last win over a MAAC opponent came on March 9, 2018- a 1-0, nine-inning victory over Quinnipiac at the USF Showcase in Tampa, Fla.

Nicholls State | Sunday, Feb. 16 (9 a.m.) | Live Video ($) | Live Stats

Nicholls State compiled a 36-18 record in 2019 and advanced to their third-straight Southland Conference Tournament Championship game.
The Colonels were picked to finish fourth in the 2020 Southland Conference's preseason poll.
Nicholls State returns a pair of all-conference players from a year ago in infielders Samantha Dares and Caitlin Garcia.
The Colonels are 1-5 on the 2020 season with their lone win coming over Alcorn State.
SIU and Nicholls State split a pair of games a year ago- the Colonels took the season opener, 9-0 before Southern rebounded to win game two, 7-6 on Feb. 9, 2019. Katelyn Massa went 2-for-3 with three RBI in the win while Ashley Wood hit her first career home run.
Southern is 6-4 all-time against Nicholls State in a series that dates back to 1985.

Coming up on a milestone

Kerri Blaylock is seven wins shy of 700 for her career. When she reaches the milestone, she will join Missouri State's Holly Hesse and Illinois State's Melinda Fischer as the only coaches in MVC history to win 700-plus games as a head coach.
The winningest coach in program history, Blaylock is 46 wins shy of passing Itchy Jones for the most wins by a head coach - male or female - in SIU's illustrious history.

Tough to strike out

Ashley Wood is one of eight players in the MVC who have yet to strike out this season.

Taking one for the team

Maddy Vermejan is tied with South Carolina's Jana Johns and Kenzi Maguire for the most hit by pitches of any active NCAA DI player.
Vermejan's 50 career hit by pitches rank second in school history. Allie Vadeboncouer was hit by an astounding 71 pitches while a catcher at SIU from 2011-14.
Vermejan led the Valley in total walks (hit by pitches plus bases on balls) in 2019.

Picking up where she left off

Jenny Jansen earned All-Region first team honors after a sophomore season in which she became the first Saluki since 1996 to hit over .400 and recorded the most multi-hit games (22) by a Saluki since 1995.
Jansen notched her first multi-hit game of her junior season against North Dakota State on Feb. 9, with a 2-for-4 showing at the dish.

Coming up 100

Susie Baranski is three runs scored shy of becoming the 20th player in program history to score 100 career runs.
A career .305 hitter, Baranski is nine hits away from becoming just the 26th Saluki with 150 career hits. Sydney Jones (2015-18) was the most recent Saluki to reach the milestone.
Baranski went 1-for-1 with a walk against Ohio State on Feb. 8.

Second Base on lock

Maddy Vermejan was the only second baseman nationally in 2019 with a perfect 1.000% fielding percentage.
Including the end of her sophomore season and the beginning of her senior year, Vermejan has now gone 55-straight games without committing an error.
The three-time All-MVC selection was the conference's Defensive Player of the Year in 2018 and in 2019 posted the best on-base percentage (.486) by a second baseman in program history.

She's got a cannon

2019 MVC Defensive Player of the Year Katelyn Massa allowed the fewest stolen bases in the MVC a year ago.
The three-time All-MVC catcher allowed just three stolen bases during the first weekend of play- the fewest in the Valley. She threw out a would-be base stealer against North Dakota State on Feb. 9.
At the plate, Massa's next home run will break a three-way tie for ninth on SIU's all-time career home runs list. The senior catcher's 22 career jacks are currently tied with Meri Anne Patterson and Marta Viefhaus for ninth.
She is also 12 RBI shy of cracking the top-10 in program history and is one of just 16 players in program history to drive in 100-plus runs.

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Players Mentioned

Susie Baranski

Jenny Jansen

Sydney Jones

Katelyn Massa

Maddy Vermejan

Ashley Wood

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