CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois baseball will look to snap a four-game losing skid this week as the Salukis hit the road once again with midweek games against UT Martin and Southern Indiana Tuesday and Wednesday.
THE SCHEDULE
Tuesday – 6 pm at UT Martin | No Video
Wednesday – 3 pm at Southern Indiana | ESPN Plus
LISTEN
Hall-of-Famer Mike Reis has the call on SIUSalukis.com and the Varsity Network App.
THE PROBIBLE
Right hand Jake Combs scheduled to start the game on Tuesday against the Skyhawks. The junior has made three starts this season and holds a 0-1 record and a 4.15 ERA. He struck out seven and allowed 12 hits in 13 innings on the mound for the Salukis. Wednesday’s starting pitcher against USI has not been announced.
AROUND THE HORN
• SIU has hit 22 home runs and 29 doubles in 16 games — for a .458 slugging percentage. New arrival Steven Loden led the Salukis with five home runs while Ryan Rodriguez and Pierre-Olivier Boucher there are four each. Eight different Salukis have home runs this season.
• Southern leads the nation in double plays with 24 in 16 games.
• SIU leads the MVC with 61 hits on the season. The team ranks second with 22 home runs.
• The Salukis have broken the single-season home run mark in the past two years (88-2022, 84-2021).
• Nathan Bandy leads SIU with a .413 average. He had seven multi-hit games in 12 starts.
• Nathan Bandy ranks as the hardest player to strike out in the MVC at one strikeout per 9.2 at bats.
• Nathan Bandy has teams longest reached base streak of 12 games. Nate Lyons sat out nine games.
• Shortstop This is Kaeber Rog The 35-game hitting streak ended against UK — which began the 2022 season.
• Kaeber Rog ranked second in the MVC after drawing 15 walks in 16 games.
• Steven Loden ranks third in the MVC in home runs with five.
• Steven Loden had five multi-hit games this year with a pair of three-hit games.
• Southern is 15-of-20 in stolen base attempts which ranks third in the MVC.
• SIU has 115 strikeouts on the season but has walked 88 batters. Opponents walked just 54 batters while striking out 110 SIU hitters.
• SIU walked 26 Kentucky batters in three games after walking just 12 in the previous series against Ohio.
THE RECORD SERIES
• SIU leads the all-time series with UT Martin 33-11 with a 12-7 road mark against the Skyhawks. The teams have met five times in the last two seasons with Saluki winning four of the five meetings. In the last game between the two programs, SIU defeated UTM 14-2 in seven innings in Carbondale. UT Martin won their home midweek meeting last season, 5-2. This is the Skyhawks’ first win in the series since 2015.
• Southern Illinois and the Screamin’ Eagles had met just twice before Wednesday. SIU is 1-1 against USI, taking the first game of a doubleheader, 6-1 in 1989 before dropping game two 6-2.
LAST TIME OUT
• SIU has lost four straight games and is coming off an 0-3 weekend at the hands of Kentucky.
• Southern lost the series opener 5-4 in 10 innings before falling 7-2 and 21-3 in the final two games.
• The 21 runs allowed in the series finale marked the fifth-most runs allowed in a game in program history.
• SIU allowed 14 runs in the fifth inning — the most under Rhodes in four seasons.
• Ryan Rodriguez led the Salukis at the plate last week, hitting .375 (6-16) to go with a .563 slugging percentage and a .375 on-base percentage. The senior had a solo home run in the series finale against Kentucky, upping his season total to four on the year. Rodriguez had three hits at SIUE and three hits against Kentucky.
NEXT
The Salukis are scheduled for a three-game weekend series at Illinois beginning Friday. Weather may play a factor in the current schedule. Stay tuned to SIUSalukis.com for updates.
NEXT ARE THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest Salukis news and information by following the team on Twitter @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.
