From the Dawg Pound
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Baseball Salukis improve to 2-1 with win over North Florida. SIU opened their 2012 season Friday February 17 in Jacksonville Florida against North Florida. SIU lost the first game of the three-game series, 7-4 on a rainy Friday evening. Defensive mistakes were blamed for the loss. SIU cut the lead to, 5-4 in the eighth inning on a Chris Serritella line drive double, but SIU left two base runners stranded and could not take the lead. The evening ended with SIU, 0-1, for the season.
Southern bounced back Saturday February 18 for a, 4-2 win over North Florida. The game was tied until the seventh inning when SIU's Austin Montgomery smashed a solo home run and gave SIU momentum. Sam Coonrod got the win for the Dawgs in his college debut as SIU (1-1) savored the victory.
SIU survived a wild game in which 28 runs were scored. M The Dawgs scored 10 runs in the final three innings to take the, 16-12 win and improve to, 2-1 on the season. Nathan Dorris picked up the win for SIU in his first college game pitched. In his five innings Dorris allowed three runs and struck out six batters. A seven-run rally in the seventh inning secured the victory for Southern. Austin Montgomery and Brian Bajer were key hitters that got the winning rally started. Montgomery had five RBIs in the streak and Bajer had a nice three-run double.
Women's Tennis cruises past SIU-E to complete best start in four years. The 6-1 win against the visiting Cougars helped SIU-C improve to 3-0. In doubles play the lady Salukis are 9-0 for the season. Junior Melanie Delsart defeated Kali Donner of SIU-E at the No. 1 position to improve to, 2-1 for the year. Anastacia Simons defeated Lindsey Raymond at the No. 6 position to improve to 2-0 in dual play. Earlier in February SIU topped eastern Illinois, 5-2.
Saluki Shakers Dance Team place 7th at the 2012 National Competition. The Shakers competed January 13-15 in Orlando, Florida where they brought home the 7th place trophy. The Lady Dawgs placed 7th in Pom-Pons and 12th in Hip- Hop. Preparations began back in August of 2011 when UDA instructors came to SIU to assist the team with their routines. SIU competed in the Division I category based upon the Salukis' football program division.
Ball State beats SIU Men in 2012 Bracket Buster Saturday February 18 by a score of 71-62. Southern fell in spite of Mamadou Seck's career-high 26 points. Ball State trailed by six points half-way through the first half, and then went on a horrid, 24-2 run to take the lead from SIU. The Ball State Cardinals had nice help by making five three-pointers during that stretch and completing a 17-0 unanswered run. BSU made 10-of-20 shots from the field from outside the arc. Seck had 17 second half points to keep the Dawgs alive. His double-double of 26 points and 11 rebounds could not save the Salukis, however. Dantiel Daniels scored 11 points during a stretch when SIU threatened to retake the lead. Southern got within five points, 57-52, with only 5:20 remaining in the game. SIU's defense failed to stop Ball State and the Cardinals flew to another safe lead. One final run was made by SIU with only 43 seconds to play. T.J. Lindsay hit a three-pointer to bring the Dawgs within four points, 66-62, but Kendal Brown-Surles missed a shot which could have cut the lead to two-points. The Dawgs then had to start fouling to stop the clock and BSU made their free throws when it counted. SIU lost, 71-62, dropping to 8-20 overall.
MVC renames Coach of the Year award to Coach Dan Callahan. The league will rename the award to honor the former Head Baseball coach at SIU. Callahan spent 16 years as Head coach of the Salukis before his battle with cancer took him in November 2010. Missouri State coach Keith Guttin proposed the idea of renaming the annual award in the name of Callahan during the summer of 2011 and the proposal was approved by a vote of the MVC coaches. Current SIU baseball coach Ken Henderson agrees with the decision noting how much the entire league cared about Callahan. Callahan's wife, Stacy, stated how much it means to the Callahan family and that they are deeply honored that Dan's fellow coaches and the MVC bestowed this recognition upon him.
SIU Baseball is ranked sixth in MVC Pre-Season Poll. The Salukis are picked to finish sixth out of eight teams this 2012 season in the Missouri Valley Conference. Coaches in the MVC vote on the rankings. Ken Henderson, SIU Head Coach, notes that he has never seen a more quality players returning to the conference than this year. The MVC was the 7th best ranked conference in the country and it should be even better this season. Two Salukis earned the title of preseason All-Conference selections. Chris Serritella, a first baseman and Jordan Siversten, an outfielder, were both selected in the voting. This year's team returns nine starters along with All-MVC starting pitcher, Cody Forsyth.
Bryan Boemer is named to All-American honor. SIU football captain, Bryan Boemer recently learned that he had been chosen as a College Sporting News Fabulous Fifty All-American Team member. The SIU center now has racked up three separate All-American honors. He led the offensive line that blocked for MVFC Newcomer of the Year, Jewel Hampton. Seven players were selected from the MVFC for this distinguished honor.
SIU football players Mike McElroy and David Pickard are named to the FCS ADA Academic All-Star team. Safety Mike McElroy is also one of 12 finalists for the $5,000.00 post graduate scholarship. Ten MVFC players were named for this honor of which two are SIU standouts.