Salukis host Panthers for rematch of 2021 MVC Tournament Title game

The Southern Illinois University softball team returns home to host the UNI Panthers in a rematch of last season's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title game. The two squads were also picked to finish 1-2 in the 2022 MVC Coaches Preseason Poll. The Salukis come into this weekend's series having won three of their last four games while the Panthers have won two of their last three. Game one of Saturday's doubleheader is set for 1:30 p.m. All three games can be seen on ESPN+ and live stats will be available for all three games.

Notes

All-Time vs. UNI

The Salukis hold a commanding 79-42 series lead against the Panthers.
The Panthers swept the three-game series at UNI in 2021 but the Salukis got redemption with a 2-0 win in the 2021 MVC Tournament Championship game.

Battle of Preseason Favorites

This weekend's matchup pits the top-two MVC Preseason favorites.
The Panthers was first after they garnered 93 total points and tallied five first place votes, while SIU finished second with 92 points and three first place votes.

Conference Openers

The Salukis won their conference opener for the sixth time in the last seven seasons after it defeated Missouri State, 6-2 in 15 innings on March 16, 2022.

Next one is a record

Jenny Jansen comes into the weekend series against UNI needing one RBI to break Shaye Harre's school record of 155 career RBI.
The Warrenton, Mo. native has at least one RBI in nine games this season and leads the Valley with 18 RBI.
Jansen will need a herculean effort to break the conference record for career RBI. She's currently 37 RBIs shy of Illinois State's Jordan de los Reyes MVC record of 191.

200 Career Hits and counting

Earlier this season, Jenny Jansen became the sixth player in program history, and first since Haley Gorman in 2012, to join the 200-career hit club.
Jansen is one of only 39 active NCAA DI players to reach the 200 career hit plateau.
Jansen is joined by Macy Johnson (Drake), Daphne Plummer (Missouri St) and Bella Peterson (Indiana St.) as the only current players in the Valley with 200 career base knocks.
Jansen currently ranks fourth in school history with her three hits on Wednesday and needs 12 more to break Jen Feldmeier's school record of 223 career hits, set in 1999.

SIU's All-time hits record
Jen Feldmeier - 223
Becky Lis - 221
Alicia Gara - 215
Jenny Jansen - 212

30 Bombs

Jenny Jansen crushed her 30th career home run in SIU's win over SIUE on March 13.
Jansen became just the seventh player in program history to reach the 30 career home run milestone.
Her next home run will tie her with Katelyn Massa for fifth in school history. Katie Jordan holds the school record for most career home runs with 39.

She also pitches

Jenny Jansen made her first career start in the circle in the win over SIUE on March 14 and threw the first complete game of her career to improve to 2-0 in the circle.
Jansen threw all seven innings and allowed four runs on 11 hits with four walks. The Warrenton, Mo. native hadn't pitched in a game prior to this season since high school and even then, she rarely, if ever, threw the entire game.

Woody's Roundup

Ashley Wood has been an on-base machine for the Salukis, both during her entire career and also during the 2022 season.
Wood currently ranks third in the MVC with a .500 on-base percentage.
Wood has reached base safely in all 20 games this season- the longest reached base streak of her career.
Wood's 20-game reached base streak is just the 10th streak of 20-plus games or more by a Saluki since 2003.
Wood's .411 lifetime on-base percentage currently ranks her 11th in school history and is currently one of 15 players in school history with a .400 or better career on-base percentage.

Breakout season underway

Aubree DePron is in the midst of a breakout season at the plate.
She's already set or tied career-highs for hits in a season (19), doubles (2), home runs (1), RBI (8), walks (5) and stolen bases (7).
The Blanchard, Okla. native's two out hit in the seventh inning of game two against Missouri State extended her hit streak to eight games.

Hits in bunches

Rylie Hamilton leads the Salukis with nine multi-hit games, which includes a pair of three-hit games. Hamilton has multi-hit games in three of her last five games.
Hamilton also has an 11-game reached base streak - the longest of her career.
Hamilton currently leads the MVC in batting average (.391).

On a tear

Elisabeth Huckleberry has tied her career-best for hits in a game, three, in two of her last three games.
During that stretch, she is hitting .700 (7-for-10) with a home run and 5 RBI.
She has more hits in her last three games (7) then she had in her previous 14 games (6).
Huckleberry has reached base safely at least once in 14 of the 17 games she has played in this season.

Getting back up to speed

After tallying just one hit through her first six games of the 2022 season, 2021 All-MVC honoree Bailey Caylor is heating back up.
Caylor has at least one hit in six of her last seven games.

Grand Salami

Tori Schullian's grand slam in the 15th inning lifted SIU to a 6-2 win over Missouri State on March 16.
Schullian's slam was the first of the season for the Salukis and the first since Jansen cleared the bases against Drake on March 20, 2021.
It was the first home run hit by a Saluki in extra frames since Kyleigh Decker went yard in the eighth inning of SIU's 8-6 win over Murray State on March 17, 2020.
It was the third career home run for Schullian and she also tied her career-high with three hits in the win.
Schullian has been swinging a hot bat since March 5- she has reached base in all eight games since then and is 8-of-18 (.444) with four walks and five RBI.

As complete of a game as complete games go

Sarah Harness went the distance in SIU's 15-inning win over Missouri State on March 16 to improve to 6-5 on the season.
The junior hurler allowed just two earned runs on seven hits and struck out 11.
Harness and Stephanie Dickerson, who also went the distance, are now tied for the longest outing in NCAA DI this season.
It was the longest outing in NCAA DI since Tennessee State's Francys King threw 16 innings against Murray State on March 26, 2021.

Tough luck loss

Madi Eberle took the loss in game two of SIU's doubleheader with Missouri State despite retiring the side in five of the six innings she pitched.
It marked the fourth start of five innings or more this season for Eberle in which she has allowed two hits or fewer. She has started eight games in the circle this season.

Longest game since….

SIU's 15-inning win over Missouri State on March 16 was its first extra inning MVC game since April 28, 2019 at UNI (W, 7-5 // 8 innings).
It was the longest game for SIU since its 1-0 win over Evansville in 16 innings on April 28, 2018.

Three or more

The Salukis are 11-1 this season when scoring at least three runs.
Conversely, SIU is 0-8 when scoring two runs or fewer.

When the bats are rolling…

Southern has tallied double-digit hits in four of its last five games.
The Salukis are 9-2 this season when out-hitting their opponent.

Top-3 in the Big 3 offensive categories

SIU ranks top-3 in the Valley in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
Southern leads the conference in batting average (.284) and on-base percentage (.387) and is third in slugging (.399).

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