Hot-hitting senior infielder
April Schermann, who leads the Redbirds with a .481 batting average and team-high 11 RBI, will look to continue her offensive streak as the Illinois State softball team returns to action this weekend at the Texas A&M Invitational at College Station, Texas.
The Redbirds enter the tournament with a 5-5 record after competing in the Alabama Tournament and Louisville Slugger Classic in February. Other teams participating in this weekends invite are No. 12 Iowa (4-1), No. 21 Texas A&M (13-4) and Syracuse (1-4).
Illinois State shutout Iowa in the Louisville Slugger Classic last month, handing the Hawkeyes their first loss of the season.
In their first game on Friday, the Redbirds face Syracuse for the first time ever, whose head coach Mary Jo Firnbach was an assistant coach at Illinois State from 1995-98. In game two for Illinois State on Friday, the Birds will play Texas A&M. A consistent participant in the Texas A&M Tournament in the early nineties, ISU is 7-20 overall against the Aggies.
Senior hurler
Nicole Kurth, who shut out Iowa, has been the main threat in the circle for ISU this year. At the Alabama Tournament, she struck out 13 Tennessee Tech players, tying the tourney and ISU single-game record for most Ks in a game.
We are really looking forward to getting back out and playing, Fischer said about her team after a weekend off from competition. After our experiences in both tournaments this year, playing hard and knowing we can beat top teams, it will be fun to get out on the field and try to win some more.
I dont know much about Syracuse but we know how Iowa plays so we will be prepared for them to come out ready to play because of when we beat them before, Fischer continued. Texas A&M is ranked now and in our region so it would be great to beat them, but they are the hosts and it will be a difficult with them at home.
ISU plays Syracuse at 1:15 p.m. on Friday, March 2 and Texas A&M at 3:30 p.m. the same day. On Saturday, the Birds meet Syracuse again at 1:15 p.m. and Iowa directly after at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Illinois State plays a single game against the host at noon.
