Carbondale Reporter

Southern Illinois University's baseball team is set to host Evansville for the final home series of the 2025 season at Itchy Jones Stadium. The Salukis will honor their senior class before Sunday's game.

The Salukis, with a record of 33-15 overall and 13-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), are currently two games behind first-place Missouri State and one game behind second-place Murray State in the conference standings. This weekend's schedule includes games on Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.

All three games will be broadcast on ESPN Plus, with Luke Martin and Kirk Champion providing commentary. Fans can also follow live stats and updates on Twitter via @SIU_Baseball.

Southern Illinois comes into this series after losing two out of three games against Murray State last weekend but secured a win against SIUE during midweek play. The team has performed well when scoring six or more runs, boasting a record of 26-6 under such circumstances. Additionally, they have remained undefeated this season when leading after six innings.

Evansville enters the weekend with an overall record of 14-33 and an MVC record of 8-13. The Aces have lost five consecutive games, including being swept by Belmont last weekend and losing to Southern Indiana midweek. They hold a team batting average of .265, ranking seventh in the MVC, while their combined ERA stands at 8.38.

In terms of past encounters, Southern Illinois leads the all-time series against Evansville with a record of 120-72. Last year, Evansville won two out of three games against Southern Illinois, including an extra-inning victory to clinch the series.

The Salukis' offensive strength is evident as they rank second in the MVC for home runs with a total of 79 this season. They lead the conference in runs scored with an average of 8.3 per game and maintain a .518 slugging percentage.

Individually, Tim Simay leads Southern Illinois with a .338 batting average while Matt Schark tops the team in hits (64) and RBIs (59). On the mound, Alec Nigut holds a notable ERA of 4.01 which ranks fifth in the MVC.

Lance Rhodes continues his tenure as head coach for Southern Illinois University’s baseball program in his sixth season, having achieved significant success over recent years including back-to-back seasons exceeding forty wins.

Fans can stay updated through various social media platforms or by downloading "Salukis" Mobile App available on both App Store and Google Play Store.