Saluki Baseball picks up several preseason honors ahead of 2023 campaign

CARBONDALE, IL. – Southern Illinois baseball is coming off a dominant 2022 wherein this system completed 44-16 and gained its first Missouri Valley Convention regular-season title since 1990.

Coach spear rhodes enters his fourth season on the helm of this system, main the crew to 40 or extra wins over the previous two seasons and a 12-6 document in his first 12 months that was disrupted on account of COVID-19. Rhodes has led the Salukis to an general document of 96-42 whereas posting the second-highest successful proportion by a head coach in program historical past at 69.6, simply behind John Lutz, who owns a successful proportion 72.8 win wins and a profession document of 129-48-1.

Dominant is the one phrase to explain the Rhodes membership, because the Salukis gained each weekend sequence they’ve performed, together with all seven Valley sequence final season.

The offense returns key items within the lineup, together with 5 of the six hitters who hit higher than .300 a 12 months in the past: shortstop kaeber rogThird base ryan rodriguez and the entire backyard Pier Olivier Boucher, jack rigoni Y nathan bandy.

From D1Baseball.com: “Few groups on the Division I degree draw from JUCO as successfully as Rhodes and his employees and it is a huge a part of what has allowed SIU to 40 or extra wins in every of the previous two seasons.Whereas there are many newcomers to select from, right-handed Paul Bonzagni Y Dermody Easton they stand out as they’re projected to be the crew’s No. 1 and No. 2 starters. Bonzagni brings uncooked warmth with a depraved slider, however the command/management profile continues to be a piece in progress, whereas Dermody has a four-pitch combine headlined by his 90-94 mph fastball. On offense, DBU switch Mathieu Vallee He had a heavy drop and initiatives to hit leadoff with a harmful speed-based profile.”

brief discipline kaeber rog and calming Matthew Steidl they had been named school baseball newspaper preseason All-People with Steidl making second crew whereas Rog earned third-team accolades. It marks the primary time in program historical past that the Salukis have had two preseason All-People on the identical crew to start out the 12 months.

Steidl is coming off a robust 2022 marketing campaign wherein he appeared in 30 video games, posting a 7-4 document with six saves en path to incomes First Group All-MVC honors. The precise-hander ranked third within the MVC with 91 strikeouts with a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

In complete, the Gallatin, Tennessee native pitched 75.2 innings, permitting 29 runs whereas holding opponents to a .262 common in opposition to. Throughout the closing stretch of convention play, Steidl pitched in 9 of the final 12 video games of the season serving to the Salukis to a 10-2 document and this system’s first MVC title in 32 years.

An All-American in 2022, Rog had the most effective statistical seasons in program historical past in his first season as a Saluki in 2022. The Willemstad, Curacao native recorded the fourth-most hits in a single season within the historical past of this system (89) and his 21 doubles and 14 dwelling runs are tied for sixth in class historical past. One in all solely two Salukis to start out each recreation this season, Rog posted 25 multi-hit video games, together with 10 video games with three or extra hits, and hit a conference-best .405 in MVC play.

The switch-hitting shortstop gained MVC’s Joe Carter Participant of the 12 months award in addition to the league’s Newcomer of the 12 months honor, changing into solely the second participant in convention historical past to win each in the identical season.

Composite Preseason Honors

school baseball

Preseason Second Group All-American: RHP, Matthew Steidl

Third Group Preseason All-American: SS, kaeber rog

D1Baseball.com

Preseason Participant of the 12 months: SS, kaeber rog

2023 draft prospects (MVC rank)
No. 3, RHP, Paul Bonzagni

No. 7, RHP, Dermody Easton

No. 19, SS, kaeber rog

No. 21, OF, Pier Olivier Boucher

No. 24, 3B, ryan rodriguez

Excellent Recreation USA

Preseason Participant of the 12 months: SS, kaeber rog

All-MVC Preseason
H.H, kaeber rog

OF, Pier Olivier Boucher

PR, Matthew Steidl

The Missouri Valley Convention will announce its preseason ballot and preseason groups on Tuesday, February 7.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

The Salukis open the 2023 season on February 17 in South Carolina with a three-game weekend sequence in opposition to Wofford and a single recreation in opposition to Towson.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS

Sustain with the most recent information and details about the Salukis by following the crew on Twitter at @SIU_Baseballon Fb at Facebook.com/SalukiBaseball and on Instagram at @SIU_Baseball. Followers also can obtain the “Salukis” cellular app on the app store both google play store.