This is the final weekend of regular-season competition for Missouri Valley Conference softball and Illinois State hosts Southwest Missouri State, Saturday, for a noon doubleheader and Sunday, for a single game beginning at noon at the Redbird Softball Complex. The Redbirds, currently No. 1 in the Valley, have already qualified for the post-season Valley tournament, but the seeds for the championship will not be determined until after this weekend.
Head coach
Melinda Fischer stressed the importance of competition around the Valley this weekend.
This is the most important week in the season, and although we already know which teams will be in the tournament, this weekend will determine the seeding, said Fischer. This weekend we have a shot at clinching the regular-season title which has been a goal for us since the beginning of the season.
In order to win the regular-season title, Illinois State (27-20, 18-5 in the Valley) will have to stay ahead of the second team in the standings, Southern Illinois (17-5 in the Valley). Standing in the path of the Redbirds this weekend are the Bears of SMS, sitting in the fourth spot with a record of 12-10 in conference action. Southern Illinois will face Wichita State, which has a record of 15-8 in league play and is third in the Valley standings.
In order for us to achieve our goal of claiming the regular-season title, we must stay focused on this weekend, said Fischer. We must take it one inning at a time and take care of what we need to do.
Not only is this a big weekend in the Valley, but it will be the final series that Redbird seniors Melissa Baker, Corey Harris, Audra Rast, Abbie Scott and Katie Shifflet will play at the Redbird Softball Complex. These five seniors will be honored in ceremonies at Sundays noon game.
No matter what happens this weekend, the current top-six teams in the Valley have already qualified for the tournament, but this weekends play will determine the seedings. Teams battling for seeding rights this weekend include Wichita State at Southern Illinois, Creighton hosting Bradley, Evansville hosting Northern Iowa and Indiana State at Drake. Based on league records, it has already been determined that Bradley, Northern Iowa, Drake and Indiana State will not qualify for the six-team Valley Championship Tournament.
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