Feb. 13, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State baseball player Collin Salzenstein will miss the 2008 regular-season after suffering a shoulder injury during the 2007 regular season. Salzenstein underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder in October 2007, and will apply for a medical redshirt this season.
Salzenstein originally hurt his shoulder during the Redbirds' Missouri Valley Conference series at Northern Iowa (April 6-8, 2007), however, he persevered and played through the pain for the remainder of the 2007 season. Salzenstein made an immediate impact to the lineup in his first season in a Redbird uniform, leading the team in steals (18) and sacrifice hits (10), while batting .250 with 46 hits and 11 RBI at the leadoff spot. The Barrington (Ill.) High School product played in 48 games, with 42 starts at shortstop and was steady defensively with a .938 fielding percentage.
Illinois State head baseball coach Jim Brownlee feels the team will miss Salzenstein's leadership this season, but believes that he will be able to come back and contribute in 2009.
"Collin transferred to Illinois State from Xavier, and when he first got here, I didn't know what to expect," said Brownlee. "But he immediately became one of our leaders, and he is one of the best defensive shortstops in college baseball. He played over half of last season with the injury, and battled through it. It is very unfortunate for him, but I think everything happens for a reason.
"He's going to be sorely missed because we have three freshmen infielders, and he's the guy that is the leader in the infield; a vocal guy who runs the show. From that standpoint, it's a tough thing to lose Collin. But when your philosophy is `everything works out for the best,' it will strengthen our team next year to have Collin back, along with three young guys that have a year of experience. He's worked really hard in the rehabilitation."
