The Southern Illinois Salukis baseball team represents

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

. They are part of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

. Twenty-four Saluki Baseball alumni have gone on to the Major Leagues.

History

On June 20, 2019, Southern Illinois University Director of Athletics Jerry Kill announced Lance Rhodes as the program's new head coach. Rhodes is a

Sikeston, Missouri Sikeston () is a city located both in southern Scott County and northern New Madrid County, in the state of Missouri, United States. It is situated just north of the "Missouri Bootheel", although many locals consider Sikeston a part of it. By w ...

, native, and joined the Saluki baseball program from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, where he had served as the head assistant and recruiting coordinator. Prior to his time at the University of Missouri, Rhodes served as the recruiting coordinator at Southeast Missouri State University; helping them to three years of program dominance by winning three straight Ohio Valley Conference championships (2014, 2015, 2016). SIU baseball started as a club sport in 1921, lasting until 1924. From 1925 until 1946, the school did not have a baseball program. In 1947, Abe Martin revived the program as an intercollegiate sport and it has remained ever since, being an elite program in the late 1960s through the 1980s. SIU plays its home games at Itchy Jones Stadium.

SIU in the NCAA tournament

SIU has a proud history in the NCAA baseball tournament, held in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

since 1950 and at

Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium was a baseball stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, the former home to the annual NCAA Division I College World Series and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A Omaha Royals (now Omaha Storm Chasers, Storm Chasers). It was the ...

from 1950 through 2010. They have made the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

5 times and finished as the national champion runner-up twice (losing out to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 1890 ...

both times) and as third-place finishers twice.

Head coaches

Notable former players

Sam Coonrod Samuel Timothy Coonrod (born September 22, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia P ...

, current

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

* Jim Dwyer, Retired

outfielder *

Steve Finley Steven Allen Finley (born March 12, 1965) is an American former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for eight teams between 1989 and 2007, most notably the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, and Arizona Diamondbacks. He is one of o ...

, Retired

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

, 5-time

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

winner, 2-time

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

Jason Frasor Jason Andrew Frasor (born August 9, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He made his debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2004, recording a 4.08 ERA in 63 games that season. He would ultimately pitch in more than 500 games ...

pitcher for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, Texas Rangers and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Joe Hall Joseph Hall may refer to: Sports * Joe Hall (American football) (born 1979), American football player * Joe Hall (baseball) (born 1966), American baseball player * Joe Hall (ice hockey) (1881–1919), Canadian ice hockey player * Joe B. Hall (1928� ...

, Retired

outfielder *

Jerry Hairston Jr. Jerry Wayne Hairston Jr. (born May 29, 1976) is an American former professional baseball infielder and outfielder. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Ranger ...

second baseman for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

Duane Kuiper Duane Eugene Kuiper (born June 19, 1950), nicknamed "Kuip", is an American sportscaster and former professional baseball player. As a player, he was a second baseman for the Cleveland Indians and San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (M ...

, Retired

second baseman, announcer, commentator for

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

baseball video games *

Al Levine Alan Brian Levine (born May 22, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who pitched 234 games in the minor leagues, and 416 games in the major leagues. Early life and career Levine, who is Jewish, was born in Park Rid ...

, Former

pitcher currently pitching for the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

of the independent

Atlantic League The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are loc ...

. *

Dan Radison Daniel John Radison (born August 24, 1950) is an American former professional baseball coach. A former minor league catcher, he has also been a Major League Baseball (MLB) coach for the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals. Radis ...

, current

1st base coach for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

Dave Stieb David Andrew Stieb (; born July 22, 1957), nicknamed "Sir David", is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) starting pitcher who spent the majority of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays. A seven-time All-Star, he won ''The Sporting New ...

, Retired

pitcher, 7 Time

, Pitched

No-Hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

on September 2, 1990. *

Bill Stein William Allen Stein (born January 21, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. His playing career spanned 17 seasons, 14 of which were spent in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the St. Louis Cardinals (1972–1973 ...

, Retired

infielder

References

{{Illinois-baseball-team-stub

History

SIU in the NCAA tournament

Head coaches

Notable former players

See also

References