Preview | Salukis Work Around Weather; Close Regular Season at Missouri State Starting Thursday

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Feb 13

3 PM

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Oral Roberts

Feb 14

2 PM

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Oral Roberts

Feb 15

1 PM

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Oral Roberts

Feb 20

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North Carolina A&T State

Feb 21

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Queens

Feb 22

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Appalachian State

Feb 25

3 PM

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Feb 27

3 PM

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Seton Hall

CARBONDALE, Ill. – With Missouri Valley Conference tournament seeding on the line, Southern Illinois baseball and Missouri State are set to battle in the final regular season weekend of the season in Springfield. The weekend series begins a day earlier than normal as teams prepare for the MVC Tournament next week in Evansville, Indiana.

Game times have also been adjusted as the Springfield Cardinals – the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals – are in town and scheduled for night games at Hammonds Field as well as forecasted weather in the area.

THE SCHEDULE
Thursday – starting at 12 p.m. until the drop-dead time set by the Cardinals
Friday – 11 a.m.
Saturday – 11 a.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
All three games will air on ESPN Plus. Fans can also follow along via live stats or at @SIU_Baseball.

WEEKEND ROTATION
TBA VS TBA

QUICK HITS

Southern enters the weekend at 23-23 overall and 11-13 in Valley action.
The Salukis are coming off a weekend series win at home against Bradley, taking two of three from the Braves and a 14-8 midweek win over Bellarmine.
SIU reached the 20-win mark at home on Tuesday against Bellarmine. Since Lance Rhodes took over the program, SIU has recorded a 94-36 record at Itchy Jones Stadium.
SIU has won 30 games or more for four straight seasons under Lance Rhodes. The last time SIU had done so came from 2005-08.
Eight Salukis have multi-hit games in 10 or more games this season led by Mathieu Vallee and Jordan Bach with 19 multi-hit games each. Cole Christman has SIU's lone five-hit game of the season.
Six Salukis have 10 or more multi-RBI games. Christman leads all hitters with 13 while Hesston Gray has 12, including four five-RBI games.
SIU's pitching staff has a 5.68 combined ERA, ranking second in the MVC in the category. Reliever Easton Dermody leading the team with a 3.08 ERA and a 4-1 record in 18 appearances out of the bullpen.
Saluki right-hander Aidan Foeller ranks among the nation's best in strikeouts with 91 on the year to lead the MVC and rank 28th nationally. Foeller also owns a 12.10 strikeouts per nine innings mark which is 29th-best in the country.

THE SERIES & MATCHUP

Missouri State enters the weekend with a 21-31 overall record and a 9-15 mark in MVC action.
MSU is coming off two straight wins after taking the series finale at Belmont and a midweek against ORU.
Southern trails in the series 79-49 and has a 23-29 record against the Bears in Springfield.
SIU has won six of the last 10 meetings but dropped the series in Carbondale last season, losing two of three.
As a team, MSU is hitting .277 with a .505 slugging percentage and a .384 on-base percentage. The team is led by Nick Rodriguez who is slashing .328/.556/.431 with 11 doubles and 41 runs batted in.
Missouri State has hit 102 home runs while opponents have hit just 65 in 52 games.
On the mound, the Bears hold a 5.86 combined ERA with 405 strikeouts and 234 walks in 443.2 innings of work.

SAVE IT

Right-hander Anthony Pron is second in the MVC and ranks ninth nationally in saves with nine on the year.
The mark ties him for eighth in program history in single-season saves with five other Salukis, most recently Trey McDaniels.
Dewey Robinson (1977) is seventh with 10 saves.
Pron was recently named to the Stopper of the Year Watchlist, honoring the top relief arms in the nation.

RUN WITH US

Southern Illinois is 65-76 on stolen base attempts this season, ranking second in the MVC.
Ten players have multiple stolen bases led by Mathieu Vallee who is 13-for-14. Jake Allgeyer is 11-for-11 on steals while Hesston Gray is 9-of-10.
SIU has recorded 65 or more stolen bases as a team in each of the last four seasons.

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.

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