Southern Illinois University
Illinois State University
Salukis head to Normal for showdown with first-place Redbirds
04/16/2021 | 10:50:00 | Softball
Â
All-time vs. Illinois State
• The Salukis and the Redbirds have met 127 times previously, with Illinois State holding a 66-61 edge in the all-time series that dates back to 1976.Â
• Southern has won five of the last six meetings and nine of the last 11 between the two schools.
• Last season's series vs. Illinois State was cancelled due to the pandemic as was the series in 2019 due to low temperatures.
• SIU last won a three-game series against Illinois State in 2018, when Southern took two out of three.
• SIU's last series win at Illinois State came in 2017 when Southern rebounded from a game one loss to take the final two games of the series.
• Southern's last series sweep came in 2016 when the Salukis outscored the Redbirds, 10-1 in the three-game set.
Top-two pitching staffs in the Valley
•SIU and Illinois State come in ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the Valley in earned run average, strikeouts and opposing batting average.Â
RPI Report
•Southern comes into the weekend with the highest RPI (44) in the Missouri Valley Conference.
•UNI (No. 75), Illinois State (No. 78) and Missouri State (No. 94) also have top-100 RPIs.
Swiping Freebies
•Maddy Vermejan's 19 stolen bases are more than double her highest season total in her four seasons previously and she has more stolen bases in 35 games this season then she did in her previous 69 games (2019-20).
•It is the most stolen bases by a Saluki in a single-season since Erin Stremsterfer stole 22 bags in 2000 and are tied for the eighth-most in a single-season in school history.
•Vermejan needs one more stolen base to become the eighth player in program history to steal 20-plus bases in a single-season.Â
•She needs seven stolen bases to break Cheryl Venorsky's 1992 school record of 25.Â
•She is just the fifth player in program history, and the first in 25 years, with 50 career steals. She needs 14 more stolen bases to break Jami Koss' school record of 63, set in 1996.
Hitting bombs
• Katelyn Massa became just the sixth player in program history with 30-plus career home runs when she socked a two-run bomb in SIU's 4-1 win over Evansville on April 11.
• Massa is also just the 23rd player in Missouri Valley Conference history to hit 30-plus round trippers in a career.
• Jenny Jansen, who hit home runs in back-to-back games for the first time in her career against Evansville, cracked the top-10 in program history with her 23rd blast on Sunday.
Historic Run Producers
• Katelyn Massa's 140 career RBIs are the third-most in program history and are 16 shy of breaking Shaye Harre's 2017 career RBI record of 155.
• Massa's 140 RBIs are tied for the 10th-most in Missouri Valley Conference history. She needs 11 RBIs to crack the top-5 in conference history.
• Jenny Jansen, who recently cracked the top-10 in program history with her 123rd career RBI, needs two more to move in the top-20 in MVC history.
MVC Pitcher of the Week
•Sarah Harness was brilliant in her two wins over Evansville last week.Â
•The sophomore hurler went 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 14 innings of work. She allowed just 10 hits- three of which went for extra bases, two earned runs and held opponents to a .200 batting average.Â
•She also struck out 22 and walked just three.Â
•Harness became the first Saluki pitcher since 2010 (Danielle Glosson) to record double-digit strikeouts in back-to-back starts.Â
•Harness's four MVC Pitcher of the Week honors this season are the most in a single-season by a Saluki pitcher since Amy Harre racked up four in 2005.
MVC Newcomer of the Week
•Bailey Caylor was named MVC Newcomer of the Week for the first time in her career after she slashed .500/.500/.500 in SIU's series win over Evansville.Â
•The Tipton, Ind. native was 5-for-10 at the plate with a run scored and a stolen base. She recorded at least one hit in each of Southern's three contests, which included a pair of multi-hit games, to extend her hit streak to five games.
•She currently leads all Valley freshmen with a .348 batting average.
•It marks the seventh time this season that SIU has taken home a MVC weekly honor- which is the most for the Salukis since 2016.
Weekly Honors
Feb. 22 - Maddy Vermejan, Player of the Week
March 1 - Sarah Harness, MVC Pitcher of the Week
March 9 - Sarah Harness, MVC Pitcher of the Week
March 22 - Elizabeth Warwick, MVC Newcomer of the Week
April 5 - Sarah Harness, MVC Pitcher of the Week
April 12 - Sarah Harness, MVC Pitcher of the Week
April 12 - Bailey Caylor, MVC Newcomer of the Week
Moved into third
• Maddy Vermejan is six runs shy of breaking Mallory Duran-Sellers career runs record of 162, set in 2012.
• Her 157 runs scored are the 30th-most among active DI players and the third-most in school history.
• Vermejan's 41 runs scored this season are tied for the ninth-most in a single-season in program history and are the most in a season since 2019, when she scored the fourth-most runs in a single season (46) in program history.Â
• The school record for runs scored in a single-season is 61, set by Mallory Duran-Sellers in 2012.
• Vermejan ranks 20th nationally with a 1.17 runs scored per game average.Â
SIU's all-time runs scored leaders
162 - Mallory Duran-Sellers (2009-12)
159 - Colleen Holloway (1990-93)
157 - Maddy Vermejan (2017-pres.)
Finding a way
• Jenny Jansen has reached base safely in 17-straight games, which is the best streak by a Saluki this season.
Everyone gets a turn
• Southern has showcased its depth all season, as 18 of SIU's 19 players have started at least one game this season and all 16 hitters have recorded at least one at-bat.
• Elizabeth Warwick is the only player this season to hit in all nine spots of SIU's batting order.Â
Approaching another milestone
• The winningest coach in program history, Kerri Blaylock is three 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 736 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.Â
• 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 gamesÂ
Melinda Fischer (Ill. St.) - 1,123 games
Holly Hesse (Missouri State) - 1,386 games
Century Mark for Walks
• Katelyn Massa and Maddy Vermejan became the fourth and fifth players in school history to reach the 100-walk plateau in SIU's series sweep of Bradley.
• Massa ranks 22nd among active DI players while Vermejan ranks 24th.Â
• 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).
School Record Streak
• Southern's school-record 25-game win streak came to a halt on March 13 after the Salukis dropped a pair of games by a total of three runs.
• It broke the previous school record for longest win streak of 23 games, set during the 1991 season.
• The Salukis went 31-1 and 393 days between consecutive losses.Â
Fielding at a high level
• The Salukis are once again ranked in the Top-25 nationally for fielding percentage. Southern ranks 16th with a .979 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 16 double plays in 35 games (.46/game) this season.
• Southern ranks 21st nationally in twin-killings per game.
• SIU has turned more double plays in 2021 than it did in 49 games in 2019 (12).
Taking free passes
• The Salukis lead the nation in total walks with 176.Â
• 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 35 games this season.
• Not surprisingly, Southern leads the Valley, and ranks 28th nationally, with a .401 on-base percentage. The school record for on-base percentage in a year is .402, set in 2019.
An on-base machine
• Maddy Vermejan ranks third in the Valley, and ranks 12th nationally, with a .580 on-base percentage.Â
• Vermejan has reached base in 31 of SIU's 35 games this season. She's walked in 28 of Southern's 35 games and tallied at least one hit in 21 games this season.
• Vermejan's current .479 career on-base percentage would break Shaye Harre's school record on-base percentage of .476.
Taking one for the team
• Vermejan currently leads the nation in hit by pitches per game (.69).Â
• Vermejan has been hit by a pitch in 17 games this season - which includes seven games in which she was plunked multiple times.
• The program's all-time leader in career hit by pitches (81), Vermejan also leads all active DI players in the category.
•Vermejan is also five hit by pitches shy of breaking the Allie Vadeboncouer's single-season record of 28, set in 2012.
Leading from the circle
• Southern leads the Valley in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.00) and ERA (1.91).
• The Salukis rank 15th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio and rank 22nd in the nation in Team ERA.Â
• Sarah Harness leads the Valley in wins (14), walks allowed per seven innings (1.22) and earned run average (1.35)
• Harness ranks second in the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.70) and saves (2).Â
• SIU finished second in ERA in both 2019 and 2020. Southern last finished with an ERA under two in 2007. The 2007 season marked the final year of an 11-year stretch in which the Salukis posted a team ERA below two.
For full notes please click here.Â
