Southern Illinois University
Fordham University
Salukis set for Florida Gulf Coast Spring Break Invitational
02/20/2020 | 9:51:00 | Softball
Southern puts its three-game win streak on the line with four games in three days.
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All-time vs. Fordham
• Southern is 4-1 all-time against Fordham.Â
• The Salukis won the first four meetings against the Rams. Fordham won the most recent meeting between the two schools, an 8-7 win on March 9, 2014.
• Fordham comes into Friday's contest on a five-game losing streak and is 1-9 overall.Â
All-time vs. Harvard
• SIU is 1-0 all-time against Harvard.
• Southern won the previous meeting between the two schools- a 2-0 win on Feb. 28, 2004 in Carbondale, Ill. in which Cassidy Scoggins threw a three-hit shutout, backed by a solo home run by Kelly Creek.
• Harvard has yet to start its season and its game against SIU will be its fourth of the season.Â
All-time vs. Michigan State
• This will mark the 12th all-time meeting between SIU and Michigan State.Â
• SIU leads the all-time series, 8-3.Â
• Southern has won four-straight against Michigan State and eight of the last nine meetings.
• Michigan State's last win in the series came in 1998.
• The Spartans are 1-7 on the season and have lost two-straight. The Spartans rank 255th out of 268 in fielding percentage (.922).
• 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.
All-time vs. UMass Lowell
• This will be the first time that UMass Lowell and SIU have met on the diamond.Â
• The River Hawks are 2-3 on the 2020 season.Â
• UMass Lowell has hit eight home runs in five games (1.6/game) the seventh-best per game average in the NCAA.Â
All-time at FGCU Tournaments
• This is SIU's first appearance at a FGCU Tournament since 2018. Southern went 3-1 in 2018 in Fort Myers, Fla., with its only loss at that tournament coming in a 1-0 setback at the hands of the FGCU Eagles.
• This will mark SIU's third appearance at an early season tournament in Fort Myers since 2016.Â
• Southern is 5-2 all-time at FGCU's tournaments, with both of its losing coming in one run games against the Eagles.
Back in the Top-25
• Southern, who finished the 2019 season ranked third in the nation in fielding percentage, has cracked the top-25 in the category through the first two weeks of the 2020 season.
• The Salukis rank first in the Valley and 21st nationally with a .981 fielding percentage.
• SIU has committed just four errors through its first eight games, which includes back-to-back games without an error. Southern's four errors are the fewest of any MVC program.
Coming up on a milestone
• Kerri Blaylock is four 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 43 wins shy of passing Itchy Jones for the most wins by a head coach - male or female - in SIU's illustrious history.
Taking one for the team
• Maddy Vermejan is second to South Carolina's Kenzi Maguire for the most hit by pitches of any active NCAA DI player.Â
• Vermejan's 53 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.Â
• Vermejan led the Valley in total walks (hit by pitches plus bases on balls) in 2019.
• The senior from Lemont, Ill. has hit a double in three-straight games, which is tied for the longest streak of her career (previous streak: 3/26-29/2017). She is hitting .625 (5-for-8) with four extra base hits and six RBI during those three games.
• Her double against Nicholls State was her 31st of her career, which is tied for the 10th-most in school history.
Consistency is key
• Kyleigh Decker has started 110-straight games at first base.Â
• Decker has been on a tear as of late, as she has reached base safely in five-straight games. During that stretch, she hit .429 with a .500 on-base percentage. She finished with a double, two home runs, three walks and seven RBI in Madeira Beach.
• The senior first baseman set a new career-best during SIU's three-game win streak with multiple RBI in three-straight games.
• With her home run against Monmouth, she cracked the Top-20 in school history. Her 17 home runs are tied for 19th in program history.
4 in the Top-15 of School History
• Four Salukis currently rank in the Top-15 in program history for on-base percentage (mini. 200 ABs).Â
• Maddy Vermejan is currently second at .452, while Jenny Jansen ranks eighth at .420. Katelyn Massa is 12th at .402 while Susie Baranski ranks 13th with a .401 on-base percentage.Â
• Shaye Harre holds the school record with a .476 on-base percentage.Â
• 10 of the Top-15 career on-base percentages have come during associate head coach/hitting coach Jen Sewell's tenure.
No. 100
• Susie Baranski scored her 100th career run against Nicholls State (2/16/20) to become the 20th player in program history to reach the century mark.
• Baranski is 7-for-12 (.583) in her last three games and she has recorded multiple hits in three-straight games, which is tied for the longest such streak of her career. It is the fifth time she has strung together three-straight games with multiple hits in her career.
Double-Digit Hits
• Southern pounded out 12 hits in its win over South Dakota on Feb. 15.Â
• Not only was it a season-high but it was the most for the Salukis since April 28, 2019.Â
• SIU banged out double-digit hits in 16 of its 49 games last season.
7 or more runs
• Southern has scored seven-plus runs in three-straight games.Â
• It's the longest streak for SIU of seven-plus run games since its three-game series at Illinois State on April 1-2, 2017.Â
• Southern last scored 7-plus runs in four-straight games in 2013 (3/16-21).Â
