NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State softball team will head west this weekend for a five-game trip at Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona. The Redbirds enter the weekend with a 1-4 record after opening the season at the University of South Florida.
Another difficult weekend awaits the Redbirds in the desert as they will face their third ranked team of the season Saturday night by playing No. 17 Arizona State. ISU will also face Memphis, Montana and Michigan State.
Jordan de los Reyes picked up right where she left off last season, knocking the ball all around the park. The junior catcher hit .400 (6-15) over the five games this weekend, including a 4-for-4 effort against Virginia Tech that featured two home runs, a double and five RBIs. De los Reyes also recorded two hits against South Carolina and leads the team in batting average, on-base percentage (.471) and slugging percentage (.867).
On the defensive side of the ball, Ali Domkuski holds a team-low 2.72 earned run average and Sarah Finck also turned in a quality weekend in Tampa. Finck finished 1-2 this weekend, with the win coming against Virginia Tech. In three innings of work against the Hokies, Finck did not allow a run and closed the game out for the Redbirds. She followed that up with a brilliant six-inning performance against South Florida. Finck shut out the Bulls for five innings before allowing a two-run home run in the sixth. Overall, the sophomore threw a team-high 13.2 innings and struck out six batters.
The Redbirds open the weekend Feb. 19 at 12:15 p.m. CT against Memphis. Later in the day, ISU will take on Montana at 2:30 p.m. CT.
Series Histories
This will be the first time Illinois State has ever played Memphis and Montana.
Illinois State is 2-30 all-time against Arizona State. The Sun Devils have been ranked for all but eight of the meetings and won last year's contest, 9-4, in Tempe. ISU's last win against Arizona State came in 2010 when the Sun Devils were ranked fifth in the nation.
The Redbirds trail the all-time series against Michigan State, 6-3. However, ISU has won two of the last three meetings against the Spartans. Michigan State won the last meeting in 2013 by a score of 3-2. Five of the nine games between the two teams have been decided by two runs or less.
How to Follow Along
A live audio broadcast will be available for all five games this weekend. In addition, live stats will be available and all links can be found on GoRedbirds.com. For in-game updates, follow the team on Twitter @RedbirdsSB.
GoRedbirds.com:Â Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
