Softball returns home to host Saluki Invitational

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois University softball team hosts the Saluki Invitational at Charlotte West Stadium beginning Friday, March 6. Joining SIU for the three-day, five-team event will be Western Illinois, Northern Illinois, DePaul and IUPUI.

All-time vs. Northern Illinois

• Friday's game between the Salukis and the Huskies will be the 32nd meeting all-time.
• Southern leads the all-time series, 18-13.
• SIU has won five of the last six meetings between the two schools.
• Northern Illinois won the most recent meeting- a 9-3 victory on March 5, 2017.

Scouting the Huskies

• The Huskies are 5-10 on the season and have lost five-straight games.
• Northern Illinois is second in the MAC in batting average (.293) but is last in the league in both earned run average (7.28) and fielding percentage (.945).
• The Huskies are averaging 4.53 runs per game with 1.60 stolen bases.

All-time vs. Western Illinois

• Southern and Western, both charter members of the Gateway Conference, will meet for the 53rd time on Saturday.
• SIU trails the all-time series, 23-29.
• The Salukis are 5-1 against the Leathernecks under head coach Kerri Blaylock.
• Southern won the most recent meeting - a 3-2 win at the Coach B Classic in 2017 that saw Susie Baranski go 3-for-4 with a go-ahead RBI-double in the eighth inning.

Scouting the Leathernecks

• Western is 4-10 on the season and dropped three of four at the Blues City Classic. The Leathernecks lone win at the Classic came against Northern Illinois- a 10-9 win.
• WIU is hitting .221 and have a .299 on-base percentage. The Leathernecks team earned run average is 3.91 with Abby Carlin leading the staff with a 1.88 ERA.

All-time vs. DePaul

• Southern trails the all-time series to DePaul, 2-5.
• The Blue Demons have won three-straight meetings between the two programs, with SIU's last win in the series (6-1) coming on March 14, 2004.

Scouting the Blue Demons

• DePaul has won three-straight Big East Championships and were picked to win the league in the 2020 preseason poll.
• The Blue Demons return seven seniors who have been apart of all three championship teams.
• DePaul is 6-9 coming into the Saluki Invitational and went 2-3 at the Samford Invitational last weekend. Earlier this season, the Blue Demons defeated Drake, 11-10 in nine innings at the UNI Dome Classic.
• DePaul is averaging .93 home runs per game- the 55th-most per game in the NCAA. The Blue Demons pitching staff has a combined ERA of 5.13.

All-time vs. IUPUI

• Southern and IUPUI have split the two previous meetings between the two schools.
• SIU won the first meeting, 21-0 in 1977 before IUPUI defeated Southern, 7-6 in 2015.

Scouting the Jaguars

• The Jaguars are 3-12 overall. IUPUI has lost eight-straight games and 11 of its last 12 games.
• The Jaguars have an 8.48 earned run average and are hitting .264 as a team.

Salukis sweep MVC weekly awards

• Kyleigh Decker was named the MVC Player of the Week while Sarah Harness took home both MVC Pitcher and Newcomer of the Week honors.
• Since 2014 when the Missouri Valley Conference added the MVC Newcomer of the Week award, it is the first time in school history that SIU has swept all three awards.
• Southern joins Drake as the only programs to have accomplished that feat since the inception of the MVC Newcomer of the Week honor.
• Decker slashed .692/.777/1.462 with three home runs, nine RBI, five walks, a double and two stolen bases.
• The Casey, Ill. native recorded at least one hit in all five games, including a career-high four in the win over Murray State. Against the Racers, Decker went 4-for-5 with two home runs, including a walk-off, two-run blast in the eighth inning and drove in a total of four runs.
• Decker is the first Saluki with a four-hit game in nearly a year (3/16/19) and hit the first walk-off home run of the season by a Saluki. Her 10 total bases were the most since 2018.
• Harness went 3-0 with a save in 15 shutout innings last weekend.
• The Bowling Green, Mo. native didn't allow a run, surrendered just nine hits- eight of which were singles, walked only one and struck out 22.
• Harness leads the Valley in both innings pitched and wins, is tied for first in saves and is second in the league in both strikeouts and appearances.
• The freshman hurler becomes the second Saluki, and the seventh pitcher in MVC history, to win both Pitcher and Newcomer honors in the same week. Harness joins an exclusive list that includes Brianna Jones (2/29/16), Drake's Nicole Timmons (2/26/18) and Nicole Newman (5/4/15), Evansville's Morgan Florey (2/22/16), UNI's Bailey Lange (4/11/16) and Valparaiso's Kelsie Packard (4/30/18) as the only players in MVC history to do so.

On a Roll

• Southern has won five-straight games and 11 of its last 12 games.
• SIU's 5-0 record at the Coach B Classic is its first 5-0 record at the Classic since 2006.

Saluki Invitational History

• The Saluki Invitational tournament dates back to 1981.
• SIU holds a 54-31 all-time record at the Saluki Invitational, which included last season's split.
• This marks DePaul's fourth appearance at the Saluki Invitational and its first since 2011.
• This marks NIU's fifth appearance at the Saluki Invite and its first since 1988.
• This will be Western Illinois's third appearance at the Invitational and first since 1989.

Milestone reached

• Kerri Blaylock won her 700th career game in a 9-0 run-rule win against Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 29.
• Blaylock joins Missouri State's Holly Hesse and Illinois State's Melinda Fischer as the only MVC coaches to win 700 games.
• Blaylock is the fastest of the three to reach the milestone.
• The winningest coach in program history, Blaylock is 35 wins shy of passing fellow Herrin, Ill. native Itchy Jones for the most wins by a head coach - male or female - in SIU's illustrious history.
• Blaylock is the 39th head coach all-time in NCAA DI softball to win all 700 games at the same institution.

Head coach- Games took to reach 700 wins
• Kerri Blaylock (SIU) - 1,078 career games
• Melinda Fischer (Ill. St.) - 1,123 games
• Holly Hesse (Missour State) - 1,386 games

Taking one for the team

• Maddy Vermejan is tied with South Carolina's Kenzi Maguire and Jana Johns for the most hit by pitches (56) of any active NCAA DI player.
• Vermejan's 56 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.
• The Lemont, Ill. native has reached base in 12-straight games.

Cracked the Top-10

• Maddy Vermejan cracked the top-10 in school history for runs scored, as her 115 career runs scored is the ninth-most in program history.
• She is nine runs shy of passing Jen Feldmeier for fifth all-time.
• Susie Baranski is five runs shy of joining Vermejan in the top-10.

Aggressive base running

• Southern has stolen at least one base in 11 of its last 14 games.
• In SIU's run-rule, five inning win over Purdue Fort Wayne on March 1, Southern nabbed six bases- their most in a game since Feb. 11, 2011 vs. Ohio. Ashley Wood and Aubree DePron each swiped two bags while Jenny Jansen and Kyleigh Decker each tallied one.

Shopping at the Gap

• In SIU's 9-0 six inning run-rule win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 28, five of Southern's nine hits were doubles.
• It was the most doubles for the Salukis in a game since March 4, 2018 vs. Murray State.
• Ashley Wood accounted for two of SIU's five doubles, while Jenny Jansen, Katelyn Massa and Sidney Sikes each added one.
• Maddy Vermejan's 32nd career double in the 10th-most in school history, while Jenny Jansen is right behind her with 31 career doubles. The school record of 49 career doubles was set by Shaye Harre in 2017.

Good Eyes

• Southern currently leads the league, and ranks 28th nationally, with a 3.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
• In SIU's 5-0 win over Northern Kentucky on Feb. 29, it marked the first time this season that Southern didn't strikeout. Southern has struck out three or fewer times in six of its 17 games this season.

Double-Digit Hits

• Southern pounded out 12 hits in back-to-back wins over Purdue Fort Wayne and Murray State.
• Not only did it tie a season-best but it is the most hits in consecutive games since April 20, 2019 at Loyola.
• SIU has banged out double-digit hits in three games this season.

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Players Mentioned

Susie Baranski

Kyleigh Decker

Aubree DePron

Sarah Harness

Jenny Jansen

Brianna Jones

Katelyn Massa

Sidney Sikes

Maddy Vermejan

Ashley Wood

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