Saluki Baseball Set for Neutral Site Series with Illinois

Saluki Baseball Set for Neutral Site Series with Illinois | https://siusalukis.com/

By Southern Illinois News Reports

Mar 27, 2023

Saluki Baseball Set for Neutral Site Series with Illinois

Southern Illinois baseball will play its final nonconference tune-up ahead of Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend with a neutral site series with Illinois beginning Friday in Booneville, Mississippi.

Due to inclement weather in the state of Illinois, the two programs agreed to play the weekend set at Northeast Mississippi Community College at The Plex.

THE SCHEDULE
Friday - 3 p.m.
Saturday - 1 p.m.
Sunday - 12 p.m.

LISTEN TO THE ACTION
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.

AROUND THE HORN
• SIU snapped a four-game losing skid with back-to-back wins at UT Martin and Southern Indiana.
• SIU ranks second in the nation in double plays turned (27) and double plays turned per game (1.50).
• Nathan Bandy ranks fourth in the MVC in batting average, slashing at a .421 clip in 15 games.
• SIU leads the MVC with 177 hits on the season. The team ranks second with 23 home runs.
• The Salukis have broken the single-season home run mark in the last two years (88-2022, 84-2021).
• Southern is 20-of-25 on stolen base attempts -- ranking third in the MVC.
• Shortstop Kaeber Rog's 35-game reached-base streak ended against UK -- dating to the 2022 season.

THE SERIES & MATCHUP
• The Fighting Illini lead the series with Southern Illinois, 43-42, and have won six of the last 10 meetings, though SIU took two-of-three games in Carbondale last season. Overall, SIU is 2-6 in neutral site games against the Illini with the last game at a neutral field taking place in 2012 at Rent One Park when Illinois walked away with a 13-5 victory.

• The Fighting Illini enter the weekend series 7-6 overall after a midweek loss to Indiana State. As a team, Illinois is hitting .269 and has a trio of hitters over .300 led by Camden Janik at .333. Cam McDonald is hitting .310 with a .603 slugging percentage. He has driven in 14 runs on 18 base hits and is tied for the team lead with three home runs.

• As a pitching staff, the Illini hold a 5.77 ERA while striking out 120 and walking just 62. Friday starter Riley Gowens has struck out 28 and issued just eight walks in a team-high 19 innings.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Salukis claimed a pair of midweek wins this week on the road, first at UT Martin before rallying to win at Southern Indiana.

• Nathan Bandy tied a season-high with three hits while right-handers Jake Combs and Matthew Steidl combined for a 6-2 win over the Skyhawks.

• Southern rallied from behind twice in their win at USI. The Salukis finished the game scoring 13 of their 16 runs in the final two innings, including a season-high eight runs in the ninth inning for a 16-9 win in Evansville.

• Southern outhit USI 13-10 with five Salukis recording multiple base hits. Pier-Olivier Boucher and Kaeber Rog went for three hits apiece while Boucher and Bennett Eltoft led the team with three RBIs.

UP NEXT
The Salukis play host to Western Illinois Tuesday at Itchy Jones Stadium.

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.