The Illinois State softball team came back from a 4-0 deficit in the first inning to score nine runs en route to a 9-7 victory over Queensland Women today in Australia. This the first overseas trip for Redbird softball under head coach
Melinda Fischer. The Redbirds will participate in five days of competition.
ISU, currently 2-1 in on the trip, fell to the Queensland Women in its first game, 5-3, before coming back to notch two wins against the same team.
In game one, senior pitcher Nicole Kurth tossed five innings and gave up seven hits while striking out 10. A homerun by Shawna Mallaburn, a former Australian Olympian, in the bottom of the fourth broke a tie. The Redbirds had scoring chances in the fifth, but could not get any runs across the plate.
ISU bounced back for 9-7 and 3-1 victories. Sophomores Corey Harris and Audra Rast each pitched a game, giving up a combined 11 hits. Sophomore Becky McMurtry was 2-of-3 with one RBI while senior co-captain April Schermann was 2-of-2 with a double in the Birds come from behind defeat.
Illinois State returns to action Jan. 4 in an evening doubleheader against Queensland Under 19s and Queensland Under 23s.
