CARBONDALE, Ill. – Metropolis, Ill., native Noah Farmer will return to the Saluki Baseball program for the 2022 season, head coach Lance Rhodes announced today. Farmer led SIU and ranked third in the MVC with a 2.98 ERA in 2021.

Farmer, a four-year letter winner at SIU (2018-21), walked with the senior class on senior day last season, but he has elected to return in 2022 for an additional year of eligibility granted to him because of the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Farmer was one of the best pitchers in the Missouri Valley Conference down the stretch in 2021. He finished the season with a 6-4 record and a 2.98 ERA in 66.1 innings. Against the top-three teams in the final MVC regular season standings (Dallas Baptist, Indiana State and Bradley), he had an 0.95 ERA in 19.0 innings. Against teams that made the NCAA Tournament (Indiana State, Dallas Baptist, and Southeast Missouri), Farmer had 1.20 ERA in 15.0 innings. His final three starts of the 2021 season were all SIU wins: a 5-0 win over Indiana State (an NCAA Tournament at-large selection), a 5-3 win over Dallas Baptist (an NCAA Tournament Super Regional qualifier), and an 11-5 win over Valparaiso in the MVC Tournament.

A 2021 First-Team Scholar-Athlete selection, Farmer was named MVC Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete-game shutout at Indiana State on May 16. Farmer scattered seven hits and needed just 90 pitches to complete the 5-0 shutout.

Farmer helped lead SIU to a 40-20 record in 2021, the program’s first 40-win season since 1990.