Preview | Saluki Baseball Hosts Lindenwood Tuesday - Southern Illinois University Athletics

Tuesday, April 2

Carbondale, IL

6 PM

Southern Illinois University

Lindenwood

Photo by: Abby Harris

Preview | Saluki Baseball Hosts Lindenwood Tuesday

04/01/2024 | 12:15:00 | Baseball

By: Tim McCaughan, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois baseball will wrap up its season series with Lindenwood on Tuesday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and admission is free.

The Salukis enter the game at 18-10 overall and 4-2 in Missouri Valley Conference action after dropping two of three on the road at Evansville over the weekend.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can listen on The Varsity Network with Luke Martin calling the action. Fans can also follow along via live stats or at @SIU_Baseball.

ON THE MOUND
Tuesday: TBA (-) vs TBA (-)

QUICK HITS

SIU is 11-4 at home this season and 4-2 in midweek games.
The Salukis lead the Missouri Valley Conference in runs (242) and scoring per game (8.7). Southern has scored 10 or more runs in 12 games this season, scoring 13 or more in seven games.
The Salukis have an MVC-best 295 hits and rank second in the League with 63 doubles.
SIU has shown patience at the plate, ranking tops in the MVC after drawing 184 walks in 28 games (6.57 walks per game). SIU has nine players that have earned 10 or more walks led by Jake Allgeyer's 27 free passes.
The Salukis have a .419 on-base percentage which is second in the MVC and 39th nationally.
Southern Illinois is 49-55 on stolen base attempts this season, ranking first in the MVC. Nine players have multiple stolen bases led by Mathieu Vallee who is a perfect 9-for-9. Jake Allgeyer is 8-for-8 on steals while Hesston Gray is 6-of-7.
Six Salukis are hitting .300 or better led by Nathan Bandy with a .407 average in 22 games and 14 starts.
The Salukis lead the MVC (22^nd nationally) in double plays with 25 turned this season.

THE SERIES & THE MATCHUP

Lindenwood enters the game at 7-19 overall and 2-4 in OVC action.
They hit .249 as a squad and are led by Dawson Hokuf (.333) and Colin Shea (.330) at the plate. The pitching staff holds a 6.27 ERA and has allowed 171 runs in 219.2 innings pitched.
The Lions are led by former Saluki PJ Finigan who is in his second season as the skipper at Lindenwood. Finigan spent nine seasons at SIU and served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, before being promoted to associate head coach in 2018-19.
Tuesday will mark just the third meeting between the two programs. SIU leads the series 2-0.
SIU defeated Lindenwood 2-1 earlier this season in St. Charles, 2-1, and came away with a 14-2 victory over the Lions last season in Carbondale.
Left-hander Alec Nigut was one pitch away from a complete-game shutout but came up just short in the ninth back in March. The junior struck out eight Lion hitters and allowed just three base hits.
In the game last season, the Salukis hit four home runs and outhit LU 13-7.

NEXT UP
The Salukis travel to Chicago for a three-game series with UIC starting Friday.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on X 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.