Salukis host the Braves for three-game series

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois University softball team is back at home beginning Saturday, March 27 for a three-game series against the Bradley Braves. First pitch for Saturday's Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader is set for 12 p.m. while Sunday's game is tentatively set for an 11 a.m. start time. All three games can be heard on SIUSalukis.com.

• All-time vs. Bradley

• The Salukis hold a commanding 73-29 all-time record over the Bradley Braves in series that dates back to 1982.
• Southern took two of three over the Braves in 2019 to win the season series.
• The Salukis have won seven-straight series from the Braves, with Bradley's last series win coming in 2012.
• SIU's last sweep of Bradley came in Peoria in 2016, while its last sweep at home against the Braves came in 2015.
• Since 2013, Southern is 17-4 against Bradley and the Salukis are 48-12 versus the Braves under head coach Kerri Blaylock.

Current Salukis vs. the Braves

• Maddy Vermejan is a career .500 (13-for-26) hitter in nine career games against the Braves. In SIU's 2019 series win over Bradley, Veremejan recorded at least one hit in all three games and has reached base safely in all nine career games against the Braves, which includes at least one hit in seven games. Veremejan tied the school record for RBIs in a single game, 7, against the Braves in 2018.
• Jenny Jansen has hit .421 (8-for-19) in six career games against the Braves. She recorded multi-hit games in two of three games against the Braves in 2019.
• Katelyn Massa is a lifetime .448 (13-for-29) hitter in nine career games against Bradley. She's hit three home runs against the Braves, which included a walk-off, three-run blast in SIU's 7-4 win on May 4, 2019.

Keeping her streak alive

• Elizabeth Warwick has now reached base safely in 16-straight games after she reached base twice in each of SIU's games against Missouri State.
• It's the longest streak by a Saluki freshman since 2017, when Maddy Vermejan reached base in 17-straight games.

A hole in the middle

• The Salukis were 15-0 this season with Ashley Wood at shortstop. Wood will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
• Jenna Christeson (1 game) and Jenny Jansen (9 games) have both started at short in Wood's absence.
• Southern has gone 5-5 without the 2019 MVC Freshman of the Year, who was hitting .317 with a .451 on-base percentage at the time of her injury.

Approaching another milestone

• The winningest coach in program history, Kerri Blaylock is 10 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's 729 career wins are second to Jones' 738 career wins.
• 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 and is the fastest of the three to reach the milestone.

Head coach- Games took to reach 700 wins

Kerri Blaylock (SIU) - 1,078 career games

Melinda Fischer (Ill. St.) - 1,123 games

Holly Hesse (Missouri State) - 1,386 games

Coming up on 100

• Katelyn Massa is two walks shy of becoming the fourth Saluki with 100 career walks, while Maddy Vermejan is three walks shy of joining the 100-walks club as well.
• Massa ranks 22nd among active DI players while Vermejan ranks 24th.
• Shaye Harre has the most walks (152) all-time by a Saluki.

Best start to a season

• Southern got off to a 16-0 start- its best start to a season in program history. (previous best: 12-0; 1991).

Receiving Votes

• Southern received votes in the most recent NFCA Top-25 coaches poll and in the ESPN.com/USA Today Top-25 Poll.
• The Salukis received votes in the NFCA poll for the fifth-straight week, coming in at de facto No. 31 with nine votes.
• Southern comes in at tied for No. 34 in the most recent ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top-25 poll with 10 votes.

Fielding at a high level

• The Salukis are once again ranked in the Top-10 nationally for fielding percentage. Southern ranks eighth with a .982 fielding percentage.
• The Salukis finished the 2020 season ranked 12th in NCAA DI in fielding percentage with a .977 fielding percentage. SIU's 14 errors were the fewest of any Valley team.
• It marked the third time in the last five seasons that Southern has finished in the top-15 in the nation in fielding percentage.
• SIU finished seventh in 2017 and fourth in 2019.
• Southern is the only non-Power 5 school to finish Top-15 nationally in fielding percentage in three of the last five seasons.
• The only other programs to finish Top-15 nationally in three of the last five seasons are: Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma and Washington.

Turning Two

• The Salukis have turned 15 double plays in 25 games (.56/game) this season.
• Southern ranks 15th nationally in double plays per game.
• SIU has turned more double plays already in 2021 than it did in 49 games in 2019 (12).

Taking free passes

• The Salukis lead the nation in total walks with 130.
• Southern drew a season-high 12 walks in its win over Ball State on March 12 and again drew double-digit walks against Drake on March 20.
• SIU has drawn at least three walks in all 25 games this season.
• Not surprisingly, Southern ranks second in the Valley, and 32nd nationally, with a .399 on-base percentage.

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Christeson

Jenny Jansen

Katelyn Massa

Maddy Vermejan

Elizabeth Warwick

Ashley Wood

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