Baseball Hosts Illinois State in Final Series of Regular-Season
05/18/2005 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 18, 2005
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill.-Southern Illinois (35-18, 13-8) hosts Illinois State (25-25, 8-13) in its final series of the regular-season this week. The Salukis and Redbirds play Thursday at 3 p.m., Friday at 2 p.m., and Saturday at 1 p.m., CST.
SIU will honor seniors P.J. Finigan (Springfield, Ill.), Bryan Rueger (Mt. Vernon, Ind.) and Jason Chavez (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) in a special presentation prior to Saturday's 1 p.m., first pitch.
Broadcast Information
All three games between Southern Illinois and Illinois State will be simulcast live on 1020 WCIL-AM and www.siusalukis.com. Mike Reis will handle play-by-play duties, while Rick Gregg serves as color analyst. QuickTime Player is required for all webcasts. Live stats for all three games can also be accessed at www.siusalukis.com.
Southern Illinois Probable Starting Pitchers
Thursday - 26 Tyler Norrick, Jr., LHP, 5-2, 2.35 ERA
Friday - 11 P.J. Finigan, Sr., RHP, 8-2, 2.87 ERA
Saturday - 23 Bryan Rueger, Sr., LHP, 8-3, 3.07 ERA
Illinois State Probable Starting Pitchers
Thursday - 42 Eric Theisen, So., RHP, 5-0, 3.10 ERA
TBA - 15 Ned Schauff, Sr., LHP, 5-4, 4.68 ERA
TBA - 27 Matt Fowles, Sr., RHP, 4-5, 5.16 ERA
Down the Stretch They Come
Third-place SIU currently sits one game behind Wichita State (14-7) in the league standings. With a sweep of ISU, and one Bradley win over the Shockers, SIU can move into second-place.
Another scenario where SIU could take over the second-place spot is if the Salukis go 2-1 and the Shockers go 1-2 in their respective three-game series this weekend.
Creighton has clinched at least a share of the regular-season crown, so if WSU loses once, the Jays win the title outright. However, if WSU sweeps BU, the Shockers and Bluejays are co-champions.
For ISU, if it gets swept by the Salukis this weekend, it will be eliminated. If ISU wins at least one, the `Birds will stay alive mathematically, but will need a lot of help from SMS, WSU and Evansville.
In other words, the Bears (vs. Northern Iowa), Shockers (at Bradley) and Purple Aces (at Indiana State) all have to sweep to give the Redbirds their best chance, as the multiple-sweeps would force a four-way tie between ILS, BU, INS and UNI.
For the first time in league history, all nine teams are eligible to make the MVC Tournament heading into the final week of the conference season.
Series Tidbits
SIU is 14-25 against ISU under head coach Dan Callahan.
The Salukis have swept the Redbirds in a series only one time, and that was in 1990. ISU, on the other hand, has swept SIU in two games during the 1984 campaign, and in four games during both the 1995 and 1999 seasons.
The last time SIU beat ISU in a series was in 2003, where the Salukis won two of three games in Carbondale.
The last time ISU defeated SIU in a series was also in Carbondale, where the Redbirds won three of four games in 2001.
Thursday marks the 136th meeting between SIU and ISU, as the Salukis hold a slight 68-67 edge in an all-time series which dates back to 1948.
The Coaches
Dan Callahan (Quincy College, `81; SIU, `87) is 286-317-1, 146-181-1 (MVC) in his 11th season at the helm of the Saluki Baseball program. Callahan guided the Dawgs to the MVC Tournament Championship game in each of the last two seasons. He is 439-475-2 all-time in 16-plus years as a Division I head coach.
SIU has won 30 or more games in three of Callahan's last four years. The Salukis' 35 wins in 2005 are the most in a season under Callahan, and the most by a SIU club since the 1990 Salukis won 49 games.
Jim Brownlee (Illinois State, `70) is 69-88, 33-51 (MVC) in his third season as head coach at his alma mater, ISU. Brownlee, who owns a 770-697-5 career record in 26 years as a head coach, won his 750th game on March 14 against Bucknell. Prior to accepting the job at ISU, Brownlee served as head coach at the University of Evansville for 23 seasons.
Scouting the Redbirds
ISU went 3-3 in its last six conference games, where it swept Indiana State and lost three to SMS.
The Redbirds, who were outscored 33-8 in their final two games of their series against the Bears, are recently coming off a 9-8 win at Northwestern on May 17.
ISU is currently last in the MVC in hitting (.275), seventh in pitching (4.91 ERA) and eighth in fielding (.953).
Matt Bolt and Ryan Anetsberger are hitting over .300 to lead the Redbirds at the plate. Bolt hits .335 with a team-leading five home runs and 29 RBI, while Anetsberger follows hitting .333. ISU is also one of four teams in the league with fewer than 20 home runs.
Pitching wise, Eric Thiesen, who takes the mound for Thursday's series-opener is 5-0 with a 3.10 ERA on the year. He has struck out 52 and walked 21 in 61 innings, and leads the `Birds with three saves.
Thiesen is the third undefeated Valley pitcher the Dawgs face in as many conference series. Prior to this week, the Dawgs handed Indiana State's Ryan Tatusko and Wichita State's Travis Banwart their first losses of the season.
Koski's Streak Hits 29, Ranks Sixth All-Time in MVC
Saluki leadoff man Kevin Koski (Schaumburg, Ill.) extended his hitting streak to 29 after hitting Missouri right-hander Nick Admire's first pitch of the game for a double. As of late, it hasn't taken long for Koski to keep his hitting streak alive, as he hit safely during his first at-bat in five of the Dawgs' last six games.
Koski's hitting streak surpassed Creighton's Tony Roth (2004-05) for the sixth-longest in MVC history. Wichita State's Phil Stephenson (1981), who hit safely in 47 consecutive games holds the current league record. The next hitting streak Koski will chase is a 32-game stretch set by three conference individuals, including Wichita State's Chris Wimmer (1990-91) and Indiana State's Demetrius Dowler (1993) and Clint Barmes (2000).
Koski has hit .387 (48-for-124) with 26 runs scored, six doubles, a triple, 10 walks, five stolen bases and 14 RBI during his 29-game stretch.
In addition, he ranks both second on the team and in the MVC in batting average (.372), and has collected a team-high 26 multiple-hit games this season.
Red-Hot Dawgs
SIU has gone 15-4 in its last 19 games, and enters its final week of the regular-season on a season-best, six-game winning streak.
Offensively, the Salukis have outhit (64-28) and outscored (37-6) opponents considerably over their last six games.
Meanwhile, SIU pitchers have only allowed two earned runs in their last 54 innings of work.
The Dawgs are also 20-6 at Abe Martin Field, where they have posted victories in 14 of their last 17 home dates.
Earlier this week, SIU handed No. 20 Missouri its first shutout (7-0) of the season during a wood bat game in O'Fallon, Mo. The win marked the Salukis second against a Top-25 opponent in 2005.
Kudos to Callahan
SIU's 35 wins to date are the most in a season under 11-year head coach Dan Callahan.
Prior to this year, the most wins in a season under Callahan came in 2002, where the Dawgs went 32-24. The 2005 Salukis are Callahan's third team in the last four years to post 30 or more wins, as they join the 2002 (32-24) and 2003 (30-25) clubs.
Starting Pitching Dominates
SIU's starting rotation of Tyler Norrick (Festus, Mo.), P.J. Finigan (Springfield, Ill.) and Bryan Rueger (Mt. Vernon, Ind.) has given up a combined 10 earned runs in 67.2 innings over their last three starts.
Finigan gave up two earned runs in 23 innings, Norrick allowed four in 22.2 frames and Rueger gave up four in 22 innings.
Also along the way, each of the three lowered their ERAs considerably during that span. Norrick's sunk from 2.70 to 2.35, Finigan's dropped from 3.55 to 2.87 and Rueger's went from 3.44 to 3.07.
The patented trio, which has teamed up for 62 percent of SIU's strikeouts (241-of-387), allowed only four runs and six hits in 27 innings in its last conference series (vs. Wichita State).
The stellar starting pitching has guided the Saluki staff into the national spotlight, where it ranked 13th in ERA (3.14) through games of May 16. Not to mention, SIU took over as the MVC's top pitching ballclub this week.
On the year, Norrick is 5-2 with a 2.35 ERA, one complete game, 81 strikeouts and 23 walks in 72.2 innings; Finigan is 8-2 with a 2.87 ERA, four complete games, 97 strikeouts and 31 walks in 94 innings; and Rueger is 8-3 with a 3.07 ERA, one complete game, 68 strikeouts and 28 walks in 105.2 innings.
Other Notes
Senior P.J. Finigan (Springfield, Ill.) is having a breakout year in his final season as a Saluki. Finigan, the Dawgs' top two-way threat at shortstop and number two pitcher, has been named MVC Pitcher of the Week three times, MVC Player of the Week once, Louisville Slugger National Pitcher of the Week once, MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week twice, and is a three-time honoree on the College Baseball Foundation's Weekly National Honor Roll.
SIU posted its fourth three-game sweep of an opponent this season when it beat South Dakota State by scores of 7-2, 8-1 and 6-1. The Salukis also swept New Orleans (Feb. 18-20), Chicago State (Mar. 11-13) and Northern Iowa (Mar. 25-27) this season.
SIU will go after its fifth consecutive series win against a conference opponent when ISU visits Abe's Place this week. The Salukis won two of three against SMS, Evansville, Indiana State and Wichita State prior to their final league series of the regular-season.
SIU has collected 10 or more hits in 11 of its last 14 games. Averaging 10.2 hits a game, SIU is 32-2 when outhitting opponents this season.
Saluki freshman right-hander Ryan Terry (Palmyra, Mich.) remained undefeated at 5-0 after beating nationally-ranked Missouri earlier this week. Terry, who boasts a team-leading 1.67 ERA, has made seven midweek starts, where he has struck out 30 and walked 11 in 43 innings.
In addition to Terry, freshmen Dean Cademartori (Norridge, Ill.) and Tyler Lairson (Richmond, Ind.) have done serious damage in their last four games. Cademartori, who is on a seven-game hitting streak, has given the Salukis some major pop in the middle of the lineup, where he has gone 7-for-15 (.467) with three runs, three doubles, a home run and four RBI in the five-hole. Meanwhile, Lairson, who bats ninth, is hitting .385 (5-for-13) with four runs, a pair of walks and four RBI. He also sports a five-game hitting streak.
