The Missouri Valley Conference is one of the best conferences for baseball this season but come this weekend, the glove comes off.

The Salukis (13-10, 0-0) have their first conference series this weekend at Missouri State University (10-13, 1-2). The Bears were picked to finish second in preseason conference poll. They had two members selected to the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason All-Conference Team.

Freshman pitcher Chad Whitmer said some of the upper classmen on the team have told him conference play is difficult.

“I’m not necessarily nervous,” Whitmer said. “If I get called in I might be nervous at first, but I’ll be ready to go.”

Missouri State was swept in a three-game series by Dallas Baptist University (17-7, 0-0), but those were technically non-conference games because Dallas Baptist just joined the conference, and those teams were contracted to play each other before they joined.

Coach Ken Henderson said he checks the standings after every weekend series.

“You pull for your league,” Henderson said. “You want the league to do well in non-conference games. We got off to a great start, we got a lot of quality wins as a league and you want your league to be successful outside of conference play.”

The Salukis were picked to finish fifth in the conference. SIU has to play all four teams picked to finish higher than them on the road. Henderson said SIU would have to play well on the road if they want a successful season.

“We always beat up on each other,” Henderson said. “It’ll be interesting to see if anybody can separate themselves.”

Dallas Baptist was picked to finish fourth and this is its first season in the MVC. The conference also lost Creighton University to the Big East Conference.

Nate Frieling, the Assistant Director of Athletics at Dallas Baptist, said he is excited to compete in the MVC.

“Travel is a little tougher for us,” Frieling said. “We’re going to be on airplanes, but also because we’re further south we have a little bit of a weather advantage.”

SIU travels to Dallas Baptist May 15-17. Junior Aaron Hauge said he doesn’t think it will be too much of a disadvantage because the team gets enough rest.

“We get the right amount of days off,” Hauge said. “We flew down to Louisiana to play in the Carmel Inn Showdown, and that went pretty well.”

Wichita State University (14-9, 2-1) was picked to finish first. They had four players named to the MVC All-Conference Preseason Team. Shockers assistant coach Todd Butler said it shows the respect the conference has for the former coaches of the team.

Three of the four Shockers coaches are in their first season with the team, including Butler.

Bradley University (15-5, 1-2) was picked to finish the conference last, but they have been near the top of the standings so far this season.

“Once you get into conference and you get into the season it’s anybody’s league to win,” Walker said.

The Salukis are 4-2 against the Big Ten Conference this season. The MVC also has other notable wins. Evansville University (13-8, 2-1) beat Vanderbilt University (21-5) 8-3 in February. Vanderbilt won the SEC championship last season and competed in the NCAA Super Regional. Indiana State University (16-5, 1-2) beat Indiana University (12-10) 12-8 Wednesday. The Hoosiers competed in the 2013 NCAA World Series.

“It’s traditionally one of the top ten conferences in the country,” Henderson said. “That’s not surprising, there’s a lot of talent in the league.”

Freshman Kyle Pauly said the he did not realize the conference outlook when he chose SIU.

“I never really knew how good of a baseball conference this is overall,” Pauly said. “I wouldn’t be shocked to see teams picked in the bottom half finish in the top half.”

The Salukis play conference series during seven of the next eight weekends.

“I don’t know if there’s a sport in the Missouri Valley Conference that’s more competitive on the national level than baseball,” Henderson said.

Aaron Graff can be contacted at [email protected], @Aarongraff_DE or 536-3311 ext. 269