Preview | Salukis Host Jacksonville State for Three-Game Weekend Set

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois baseball returns to the diamond this weekend when the Salukis welcome Jacksonville State to Itchy Jones Stadium for a three-game series starting Friday night.

THE SCHEDULE
Friday – 6 p.m.
Saturday – 2 p.m.
Sunday – 1 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can listen to the games on The Varsity Network with Luke Martin handling the play-by-play duties. Fans can also follow along via live stats or on Twitter @SIU_Baseball.

WEEKEND ROTATION
RHP Mike Hansell (2-1, 7.36) vs LHP Will Baker (1-0, 3.00)
LHP Al Holguin (1-1, 2.33) vs RHP Jackson Sleeper (0-1, 9.20)
TBA vs RHP Austin Cornelius (1-0, 3.26))

AROUND THE HORN

The Salukis are 11-5 overall and have won their last five games. SIU took down SIUE on the road, recorded a sweep of Houston Christian at home, and won its last midweek road game at Lindenwood.
Saluki pitching combined to allow just eight earned runs over the last five games, lowering its team ERA from 8.02 to 6.08 over the stretch.
Southern Illinois has drawn 122 walks to lead the MVC and rank eighth in the nation. SIU has six players who have 10 or more walks this season led by Jake Allgeyer who has 20 to rank 13^th nationally while Saluki designated hitter Bennett Eltoft has 19 walks.
In 16 games the Saluki offense has scored 143 runs to lead the Valley and rank 43^rd in the nation. It's 8.9 runs per game ranks 39^th in the country.
Steven Loden leads SIU with seven home runs and 28 RBIs. He has a .700 slugging percentage which is seventh in the MVC and a .449 on-base percentage.
SIU is 18-for-21 on stolen base attempts. Mathieu Vallee is 4-for-4 on steal opportunities and Jake Allgeyer is 3-for-3.

ALEC NIGUT SHINES AT LINDENWOOD

Left-hander Alec Nigut improved to 3-0 on the season after leading the Salukis past Lindenwood last time out in a 2-1 victory.
Nigut pitched a near-complete game in the win, going a career-long 8.2 innings.
He retired eight Lions on strikeouts and allowed just three base hits.
It wasn't until the ninth inning that LU was able to string together baserunners to get on the board, erasing the shutout bid.

THE SERIES & THE MATCHUP

Southern Illinois and Jacksonville State have met 27 times total with the series dating back to 2009. JSU leads the series 15-12 and has won two straight games.
The two teams met last season in Alabama with SIU taking the series opener 8-7 before the Gamecocks took the next two games, 13-5 and 5-1 to claim the series win.
SIU is 6-5 at home against JSU.
Jacksonville State enters play at 8-8 on the year and riding a three-game winning streak. JSU took two of three against Iowa over the weekend before defeating Alabama State Tuesday and UAB Wednesday.
The Gamecocks are hitting .246 as a team led by Bear Madliak (.295) and Caleb Johnson (.295).
As a pitching staff, JSU holds a combined team ERA of 6.34 and has struck out 119 batters in 142 innings.

TOP PERFORMERS LAST WEEK

Easton Dermody pitched six innings of relief work Friday night as Southern Illinois took the series opener over Houston Christian. Dermody entered the game in the fourth and went on to strike out nine batters and allow just two runs out of the bullpen. The right-hander surrendered only two runs while not issuing a free pass in the outing.
Steven Loden drove in 10 runs and scored four times over the last four games for the Salukis. The infielder hit .400 and added to his team lead in home runs with two on the week. Loden finished with a .867 slugging percentage as well as a .444 on-base percentage after drawing two walks. He drove in five runs in the series opener against Houston Christian and four in the finale with the Huskies to help secure the weekend sweep.

RHODES AT THE HELM

Lance Rhodes enters his fifth season at the helm of the program, leading the team to 40 or more wins during two of the last three seasons -- including the first back-to-back 40-win seasons in program history (2021 & 22).
Rhodes holds an overall record of 137-74 and a 46-30 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play.

THE BIG FLY

SIU's 16 home runs rank fourth in the MVC. Loden leads the team with seven.
As a team, the Salukis hit the third-most home runs in program history in 2023 with 79 bombs, averaging 1.39 home runs per game.
Steven Loden and Pier-Olivier Boucher finished second and fourth, respectively in single-season home runs in 2023. Loden sent 18 homers out which ranked second while Boucher hit 16 home runs to tie for fourth place.

LET'S TURN TWO

The Salukis led the nation in double plays (61) and double plays turned per game (1.07) in 2023.
SIU has led the MVC in turning double plays in seven of the last 10 seasons. SIU led the MVC in double plays in 2013, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, and 2023. The Salukis were second in the MVC in 2016.
Southern has turned 12 double plays this season and has hit into just two.

MVC PRESEASON POLL

Indiana State was picked in a poll of league head coaches to win the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference baseball title. The Sycamores are defending regular-season and tournament champions. ISU received 95 total points and eight of 10 first-place tallies in this season's poll, while Missouri State and Evansville earned the other two first-place votes. The Bears finished second in this year's poll with 89 points, while Evansville is in the No. 3 spot with 81 points. Murray State (4th, 67 points) and Southern Illinois (5th, 63 points) are tightly bunched for the next two spots, followed by Belmont (6th, 40), Illinois State (7th, 39), UIC (8th, 34), Valparaiso (9th, 22), and Bradley (10th, 20).

PRESEASON MVC HONORS

Right-hander Jake Combs was named Preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference. A Second Team All-MVC selection a year ago, Combs led the team in ERA with a 2.97 mark in 63.2 innings across 16 appearances, including 15 starts. In MVC play Combs held opponents to a 2.01 ERA in 31.1 innings.

UP NEXT
Following this weekend the Salukis will play a split series with Arkansas State next Tuesday and Wednesday. SIU will travel to Jonesboro on Tuesday before A-State makes the trip to Carbondale on Wednesday. Both games are scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch.

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.

Calendar

Upcoming Events