April 28, 2005

By Lou Antoine
SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - #21 Southern Illinois (40-10, 18-3 MVC) puts its newly-gained first place position in the MVC on the line this weekend, when the Salukis close out their home schedule with a three-game series against Bradley (16-29, 3-17 MVC) at Charlotte West Stadium. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at 12 p.m.

"We're just glad to be home this weekend. Anytime you don't have to travel and stay in a hotel room, it's a good thing. We just want to go out and win ball games," stated Kerri Blaylock, SIU head coach.

The Braves are currently last in the Valley standings and only hit .248 as a team, but Blaylock will not allow the Salukis to look past this Bradley team.

"They have a kid (Trish Kowalewski) who has hit seven home runs and they have 19 homers as a team. They can score runs, and if you take them lightly, you can lose games. We're going after them just like we do every week. We need to pitch well and score some runs early to keep them from building on their confidence," Blaylock added.

The Salukis enter the weekend following a big series win over nationally-ranked Creighton on the road last weekend, which moved SIU into first place in the Valley. Southern Illinois has won 34 of its last 37 games, while the Braves have won four straight (doubleheaders over E. Illinois and Loyola this week), following seven straight losses.

Blaylock is 11-4 against Bradley, including a three-game sweep last year (W, 2-0, 6-2 & 10-4), and wins in nine of the last 11 games. She is 232-99 overall in her sixth season, including a 97-40 MVC record.

The Salukis can break the team record of 18 Valley wins (set in 2003 & tied in 2004) with a victory.

Bradley's Venus Taylor is 45-58 in her second year with the Braves, including an 0-3 record versus the Salukis. Taylor is 92-68 in three years overall.

SIU's series with Bradley will be broadcasted live via the internet by SIU's Thad Jackson and will also be scored live using Gametracker at www.siusalukis.com.