NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont baseball team looks to bounce back after dropping the last two games to Kansas last weekend, facing Southern Illinois on Tuesday at Rose Park at 4 p.m.
Southern Illinois is coming off a 3-1 weekend, combining for 32 runs scored over Jackson State.
"The best thing that we did with (the Kansas) series is we got three games under our belt," head coach Dave Jarvis said. "We dealt with some adversities as far as weather and other situations. The pitching staff has shown me no surprises. I feel like we're going to be very sound within our pitching staff. We're in the midst of organizing and putting together a very good bullpen."
The opening series came with positives for Belmont, with sophomore pitcher Joshua South earning OVC Co-Pitcher of the Week on Monday. South helped Belmont to its first opening day shutout since 2012 (2-0 vs. Evansville on Feb. 17, 2012) in a 6-0 victory over Kansas on Friday. He struck out seven batters in six innings of work while only allowing one hit, marking the first time since Kyle Brennan on May 18, 2018 at Northwestern that a Belmont pitcher recorded five or more strikeouts against a Power 5 opponent.
With sophomore catcher Tommy Crider hitting two home runs in the first three games of the season, he became the first Belmont player since Drew Ferguson and Matt Beaty in 2015 to hit two home runs in the first three games of the season.
"The thing that we did in all three of the games is I felt like our kids competed extremely well," Jarvis said. "I see so many positive things in all three aspects of the game. Offensively, I think we're going to evolve and get better."
Southern Illinois finished with a 26-win season in 2019 and won two games in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. The Salukis have a historically strong program, reaching the College World Series four times and finishing as the National Runner Ups twice.
Belmont looks to use these non-conference games in order to prepare for the challenge in conference play.
"We got a good program in SIU-Carbondale coming in on Tuesday night, so that's our next focus," Jarvis said. "As we look toward the weekend, that's going to be an extremely exciting weekend. That's four good opponents coming in, Samford and three from the Missouri Valley. We feel like these steps and this early part of the schedule is a really good way to prepare us, if we allow it to, to prepare us for OVC play."
Game Notes
Scouting Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois is coming off a 3-1 record after taking three wins against Jackson State last weekend on the road. The Salukis scored a combined 32 runs in the first four games of the season, but only hitting one home run while collecting 24 RBIs. SIU has three players who have collected a batting average of .300 or more this season, with their pitching staff combining for an ERA of 3.22 and striking out 29 batters.
Ian Walters leads the offensive assault for the Salukis, hitting .400 on the year with two doubles and six RBIs. Nick Neville has added power to the plate, hitting .381 with three doubles and 11 total bases while Tony Rask is hitting .300 with a slugging percentage of .400. Mason Hiser is the probable starter for the Salukis, where he contributed to a shutout effort on Friday. Hiser collected three strikeouts and allowed seven hits on Friday, but did not allow an earned run in 21 at-bats he faced.
