Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Salukis host Beacons for Alumni Weekend
04/28/2022 | 7:49:00 | Baseball
Itchy Jones will have his jersey retired prior to Saturday’s game
The Southern Illinois University baseball team is back at home this weekend when it hosts the Valparaiso Beacons for a three-game series. SIU Baseball will welcome back a slew of alums for its annual Alumni Weekend, which will culminate with the retirement of Itchy Jones' legendary No. 1 jersey during a ceremony prior to Saturday's 2 p.m. game. SIU Baseball's all-time winningest coach, Jones will be the first person in program history to have their jersey number retired. As for this weekend's series, the Salukis come in having won three of their last four, which includes Tuesday's exhilarating walk-off win over SEMO in 11 innings. The Beacons, on the other hand, come into the weekend series having lost five-straight. First pitch of Friday's series opener is set for 6 p.m.
- SIU opens the MVC weekend part of 3-way tie for first place with Evansville and Indiana St. at 6-3. SIU, UE, INSU, BU, and DBU are all within one game of each other atop the MVC standings with 12 conference games remaining in the season.
2. SIU's last MVC regular season title came in 1990. That was also the last time SIU appeared in the NCAA Tournament. SIU's highest MVC finish since then is 3rd place.
3. SIU, which finished first or second in every key MVC offensive stat category in 2021, is 2nd in the MVC in BA, #1 in HRs, #1 in R, #1 in RBIs, #1 in hits, and #2 in Slug % through 4/26/22. The Salukis also lead the MVC in walks and are 3rd in the MVC in fewest strikeouts.
4. SIU is averaging 1.53 HR/G in 2022. It averaged 2.1 HR/G enroute to the school's single season home run record of 84 in 2021. SIU is tied for 26th in the nation in home runs this season with 59.
5. Through 4/26/22 SIU SS Kaeber Rog is tied for 8th in the nation in hits, 67. CF/1B JT Weber is tied for 20th with 63.
6. Weber, who is tied for 15th in the nation in HRs this season, is tied for 6th in the nation in HRs the last two seasons with 31. His 16 home runs this season are tied with Jerry Miller's 16 HRs (1980) for the second most in one season in Saluki history. Nick Neville (2021) owns the record with 17. Weber is 2nd to Robert Jones (36, 1983-1986) in career homers with 33.
7. Weber is pre-season First Team All-MVC. He leads the MVC in BA, is #1 in R, #2 in hits, is #2 in HRs, and is 4th in RBIs.
8. Weber is tied for ninth place with P.J. Finigan with 150 career runs scored. He is 10th in career RBIs with 139.
9. Rog is #5 in the MVC in BA, #1 in H, tied for #1 in RBIs, tied for #5 in HRs, and is tied for #8 in R.
10. Weber is hitting .401. The last time a Saluki hit .400+ for a full season was 1994 when Braden Gibbs led SIU and the MVC with a .412 batting average. NOTE: Ian Walters hit .411 in the 2020 20 game pandemic season.
11. 1B/3B Ryan Rodriguez has delivered two walk off winners in 2022. His 10th inning walk off 2R HR beat Illinois 7-5 on 3/20/22 in Carbondale. He reached base on a Bradley error in the bottom of the 9th inning at SIU on 4/2/22 driving in the winning run in SIU's 6-5 win. Rodriguez delivered a third game winning hit when he doubled in the winning run 4/22/22 at DBU in the 8th inning of a 7-6 win.
12. SIU has 4 walk-off wins this season. In addition to Rodriguez' heroics above, OF Nathan Bandygave SIU a 7-6 win over SIUE on April 16 with a walk off RBI single. OF Jack Rigoni won the 4/26/22 SEMO game with a walk-off homerun leading off the bottom of the 11th inning.
13. Rigoni, starting for the first time in a month, is 6 for 9 in his last games (both starts).
14. Bandy had his 28-game reached base streak snapped at 28 last Sunday at DBU. It is tied for 4th longest streak in SIU history.
15. RP Trey McDaniel and SP Mike Hansell lead the Salukis in pitching victories with 5 apiece. McDaniel is 17-12 with 31 saves for his 112 game/5 season Saluki career. Hansell did not pitch last weekend due to an arm injury.
16. The Salukis lead the MVC in wins (29). Per warrennolan.com they are 3rd in the MVCÂ in RPI (75).
