Despite getting swept for the second consecutive weekend, the Saluki baseball team has the first baseman position solidified on its depth chart.

The team’s top two batting averages belong to seniors Ryan Casillas and Cody Daily; both play first base. Casillas starts at first the majority of the time, while Daily is the designated hitter.

Even though Casillas has played more games at first, he said he would prefer to be behind the plate. Casillas has started two games at catcher this season, which allowed Daily to start at first and move senior catcher Matt Jones to the designated hitter spot.

That was early in the year before freshman catcher Jake Hand had the opportunity to prove himself. Coach Ken Henderson has been giving Hand more playing time in right field lately because he is one of the better hitters. Hand has become the primary backup at catcher for Jones’ off days.

Regardless of where he starts, Casillas said he likes to play where the team needs him the most. Daily said the same thing, though it took him some time getting used to designated hitting because he has played in the field his entire career.

The team needs both of them to stay where they are because Jones is too good of a defensive catcher to mess with the lineup. It’s counterproductive to fix something that’s not broken. Daily is not a bad fielder, but Casillas is slightly better.

Casillas leads the team in 10 offensive categories and has played in every game this season. Daily leads the team with four sacrifice flies and is second in nine offensive categories.

With three weeks left in the season, Casillas has more home runs, doubles, RBIs and total bases than he had all of last season. His batting average has improved by nearly 30 points. Daily’s numbers are similar to last season, but his batting average has improved by more than 20 points.

Both of them attended junior college before attending SIU. Henderson said Division I schools usually only get one good year from players coming from junior college because they sign with a professional club if they have a good junior year.

Henderson said Casillas isn’t trying to do too much at the plate anymore. He said Casillas used to swing for the fences every at-bat, but now he’s hitting with just his hands rather than his whole body.

The Arizona Diamondbacks drafted Casillas in the 40th round of the 2010 draft out of high school.

Despite Casillas getting drafted out of high school, neither him nor Daily had good enough junior seasons to get drafted, but both of them are having good enough senior seasons to possibly get drafted this year.

The Salukis’ last first baseman to sign with a professional club was Chris Serritella; the Philadelphia Phillies drafted him in the fourth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft. Serritella had a better collegiate career than Casillas and Daily, but the two of them have a good chance of hearing their names called in June.

Casillas and Daily have better numbers than several of the first basemen drafted in 2013 and could both be off the board by the 20th round.

Before they worry about the draft, they need to focus on the rest of the season, especially the Missouri Valley Conference Championships May 20-24 at Indiana State University.

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