Friday, March 31
Peoria, IL
12 PM
Southern Illinois University
at
Bradley
Salukis Face Altered Schedule for Weekend Series at Bradley
03/30/2023 | 12:52:00 | Baseball
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois baseball puts its five-game winning streak on the line this weekend on the road at Bradley. The series opener has been moved from a 6 p.m. to start to noon Friday due to the threat of severe weather in central Illinois. There is a possibility that the game could be postponed but the final call will come Friday morning.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Saluki Hall-of-Famer Mike Reis will have the call on SIUSalukis.com, the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store, as well as the Varsity Sports Network App. Live stats for the game are also available on SIUSalukis.com.
With uncertainty surrounding the opener, only games two and three of the series are set to air on ESPN3/ESPN Plus.
AROUND THE HORN
• Southern Illinois is off to a 3-0 start in Valley play for the first time since 2017.
• SIU leads the country in double plays turned (36) and double plays turned per game (1.44).
• Six Salukis hold batting averages over .300, with three hitters over .325.
• Nathan Bandy ranks third in the MVC in batting average, slashing at a .402 clip in 21 starts.
• Nathan Bandy and Ryan Rodriguez lead the Salukis with 13 multi-hit games apiece.
• Three Salukis rank in the top-15 in the MVC in average (Bandy (3rd), Christman (4th), Boucher (13th)).
• SIU leads the MVC in average (.279) and hits (243) and home runs (37).
• The Salukis have broken the single-season home run mark in the last two years (88-2022, 84-2021).
• Southern is 25-of-32 on stolen base attempts -- ranking fourth in the MVC.
• Nathan Bandy is a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen bases while Mathieu Vallee is 5-for-7 to lead the team.
• Saluki pitching has allowed three runs per game over the last five games, lowering the team ERA to 6.04 -- the lowest it has been since opening weekend.
THE SERIES & MATCHUP
• Southern Illinois and Bradley are set to meet for the 178th time this weekend at Dozer Park in Peoria. The Salukis lead the all-time series with Bradley 93-83-1 and have won three of the last four meetings. SIU is 33-46 on the road against Bradley. Southern took two of three in Carbondale a year ago.
• The Braves enter the weekend series 9-11 overall and 2-01 in conference action after taking a series over Murray State last weekend. As a squad, BU is hitting .279 with a .443 slugging percentage and a .358 on-base percentage. The Braves are led by Ryan Vogel with a .425 average on 34 hits and 15 RBIs. Logan Delgado is hitting .333 in 15 games and has 13 hits, including five doubles.
• On the mound, the Braves hold a 6.78 combined ERA and have given up 125 earned runs in 20 games. Jacob Kisting has thrown the bulk of the innings for Bradley with 29.1 innings in six starts. The right-hander is 0-3 with a 5.83 ERA, striking out 33 batters and holding opponents to a .257 average against. Reliever Connor Langrell has been strong, allowing just five hits in 10.2 innings over nine appearances. He has not allowed a run while striking out 20 batters, walking just five, and holding opponents to a .132 average against.
LAST TIME OUT
• Southern picked up its fifth-straight win Tuesday night, walking off UT Martin in the tenth inning to secure the season sweep.
• The walk-off win was SIU's second in its last four games.
• Jordan Bloemer pitched 4.1 innings in his start, striking out five while allowing just two runs. Paul Bonzagni picked up the win in relief to improve to 3-2 on the season. He struck out four in the final two innings of play.
• Nathan Bandy reached base five times after drawing a walk and picking up a team-best four base hits in the win. He had seven hits in two games against the Skyhawks this season.
THE LONG BALL
• It was the weekend of the long ball for Southern Illinois as the Salukis pounded UIC for 10 home runs in three games. Southern put together one of the best single-inning performances in school history in the series finale on Sunday as SIU went for five home runs in the seventh, including back-to-back-to-back home runs. Three Salukis had two homers each in the weekend series including Bennett Eltoft, Matt Schark and Steven Loden.
UP NEXT
The Salukis host Lindenwood Tuesday at Itchy Jones Stadium at 6 p.m.
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Baseball, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiBaseball, and on Instagram at @SIU_Baseball. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Saluki Hall-of-Famer Mike Reis will have the call on SIUSalukis.com, the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store, as well as the Varsity Sports Network App. Live stats for the game are also available on SIUSalukis.com.
With uncertainty surrounding the opener, only games two and three of the series are set to air on ESPN3/ESPN Plus.
AROUND THE HORN
• Southern Illinois is off to a 3-0 start in Valley play for the first time since 2017.
• SIU leads the country in double plays turned (36) and double plays turned per game (1.44).
• Six Salukis hold batting averages over .300, with three hitters over .325.
• Nathan Bandy ranks third in the MVC in batting average, slashing at a .402 clip in 21 starts.
• Nathan Bandy and Ryan Rodriguez lead the Salukis with 13 multi-hit games apiece.
• Three Salukis rank in the top-15 in the MVC in average (Bandy (3rd), Christman (4th), Boucher (13th)).
• SIU leads the MVC in average (.279) and hits (243) and home runs (37).
• The Salukis have broken the single-season home run mark in the last two years (88-2022, 84-2021).
• Southern is 25-of-32 on stolen base attempts -- ranking fourth in the MVC.
• Nathan Bandy is a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen bases while Mathieu Vallee is 5-for-7 to lead the team.
• Saluki pitching has allowed three runs per game over the last five games, lowering the team ERA to 6.04 -- the lowest it has been since opening weekend.
THE SERIES & MATCHUP
• Southern Illinois and Bradley are set to meet for the 178th time this weekend at Dozer Park in Peoria. The Salukis lead the all-time series with Bradley 93-83-1 and have won three of the last four meetings. SIU is 33-46 on the road against Bradley. Southern took two of three in Carbondale a year ago.
• The Braves enter the weekend series 9-11 overall and 2-01 in conference action after taking a series over Murray State last weekend. As a squad, BU is hitting .279 with a .443 slugging percentage and a .358 on-base percentage. The Braves are led by Ryan Vogel with a .425 average on 34 hits and 15 RBIs. Logan Delgado is hitting .333 in 15 games and has 13 hits, including five doubles.
• On the mound, the Braves hold a 6.78 combined ERA and have given up 125 earned runs in 20 games. Jacob Kisting has thrown the bulk of the innings for Bradley with 29.1 innings in six starts. The right-hander is 0-3 with a 5.83 ERA, striking out 33 batters and holding opponents to a .257 average against. Reliever Connor Langrell has been strong, allowing just five hits in 10.2 innings over nine appearances. He has not allowed a run while striking out 20 batters, walking just five, and holding opponents to a .132 average against.
LAST TIME OUT
• Southern picked up its fifth-straight win Tuesday night, walking off UT Martin in the tenth inning to secure the season sweep.
• The walk-off win was SIU's second in its last four games.
• Jordan Bloemer pitched 4.1 innings in his start, striking out five while allowing just two runs. Paul Bonzagni picked up the win in relief to improve to 3-2 on the season. He struck out four in the final two innings of play.
• Nathan Bandy reached base five times after drawing a walk and picking up a team-best four base hits in the win. He had seven hits in two games against the Skyhawks this season.
THE LONG BALL
• It was the weekend of the long ball for Southern Illinois as the Salukis pounded UIC for 10 home runs in three games. Southern put together one of the best single-inning performances in school history in the series finale on Sunday as SIU went for five home runs in the seventh, including back-to-back-to-back home runs. Three Salukis had two homers each in the weekend series including Bennett Eltoft, Matt Schark and Steven Loden.
UP NEXT
The Salukis host Lindenwood Tuesday at Itchy Jones Stadium at 6 p.m.
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Baseball, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiBaseball, and on Instagram at @SIU_Baseball. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.
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