SIU to host Eastern Illinois

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The SIU (3-0) baseball team will host Eastern Illinois (2-1) at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, February 23, in Itchy Jones Stadium. SIU was initially scheduled to travel to Austin Peay on Tuesday, but Austin Peay's weekend series at Dallas Baptist was pushed back a day due to weather.

Schedule Update » The SIU-EIU game time has been pushed back one hour. Originally scheduled for 4 p.m., the game will now have a 5 p.m. CT first pitch at Itchy Jones Stadium.

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Attendance Policy » Due to COVID-19 health protocols, attendance at Itchy Jones Stadium will be limited to immediate family of student-athletes and a limited number of SIU students, with a capacity of 100 in the seating bowl. The Hill will be closed. Face coverings are required in the facility except when eating or drinking, and fans must observe social distancing outside of immediate family members. If health protocols change during the season, these Itchy Jones Stadium attendance policies will be reevaluated.

Starting Pitchers

SIU LHP Braden Babcock (Oshawa, Ontario)
EIU LHP Aaron Chao (Angola, Ind.)

AROUND THE HORN

Eastern Illinois comes into the game after taking two of three at Nicholls State last weekend. Both SIU and EIU are 2-0 in one-run games.
SIU is 3-0 for the first time since 2017 and for just the sixth time in program history. SIU also started 3-0 in 1978, 1979, and 2017. SIU started 4-0 in 1977. The only team in program history to start better than 4-0 was the 1967 Salukis, who started the season 11-0.
Through Feb. 21 games, SIU is one of only 37 undefeated teams in the country and one of only 22 who is 3-0 or better.
SIU has won eight-straight games, dating back to last season.
SIU's eight-game winning streak, dating back to last season, is tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in the country.
- 18 - Ole Miss
- 15 - Navy
- 9 - Fordham
- 8 - SIU, Dallas Baptist, Clemson, Florida Gulf Coast, Belmont, and South Carolina
All 13 SIU offensive players with at least one AB recorded at least one hit on opening weekend. SIU hit .309 as a team, which leads the MVC and ranks 30th nationally.
SIU's competition on its 3-0 opening weekend: Jacksonville State (#2 preseason OVC), Tennessee Tech (2018 SuperRegional), and Alabama State (preseason SWAC East favorites).
Ben Chapman was the only MVC player to pitch 6+ shutout innings on opening weekend. Chapman struck out six and allowed just three hits in six shutout innings on Sunday against Alabama State.
Nick Neville slashed .500/.533/.714 on opening weekend. He went 7-for-14 with three runs scored, a home run, three RBIs, and two stolen bases.
Two starters and four bullpen arms have perfect 0.00 ERAs after opening weekend. Mike Hansell (4.2 IP, 1R, 0ER on Friday) and Ben Chapman (6.0 IP, 0R, 3H, 6K on Sunday) started games this weekend. Noah Farmer pitched four shutout innings and allowed just one hit out of the bullpen on Saturday. Farmer limited opponents to an .083 batting average. Adam Bunnel (1.0 IP), Dylan Given (0.2 IP) and Kyle Back (0.1 IP) also did not allow a run. In all, SIU's pitching staff limited three opponents to a .212 batting average on the weekend.
Ian Walters has reached base in 24 consecutive games, a streak that dates back to late in the 2019 season. He reached in all 18 games last season and the first three games of 2021.
Philip Archer has reached base in 14-straight games, dating back to last season.
Saluki Baseball (3-0) and Saluki Softball (6-0) are both undefeated. Saluki Athletics is one of just four programs in the country to remain undefeated in both baseball and softball (Alabama, Oklahoma State, and USC Upstate are the others).

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Players Mentioned

Philip Archer

Braden Babcock

Kyle Back

Ben Chapman

Noah Farmer

Mike Hansell

Nick Neville

Ian Walters

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