After playing 20 games on the road to start the season, the Illinois State softball team finally gets to play at Redbird Softball Complex with a three-game series against Creighton this weekend. The series will also mark the first Missouri Valley Conference games of the season for both the Birds and the Bluejays. ISU will play a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday, before the series concludes with a noon match-up on Sunday.
Were excited to get back home and play on our own field, head coach
Melinda Fischer said. Its been a crazy playing so many games on the road to start the season. Our returning players know what to expect in the conference but the big question for us is in the circle. We just tell our players to expect the unexpected, improve every time they step on the field and we ask them to do whats necessary to win. Each year we try to play as tough a schedule as our budget and time allow, and hopefully it will pay off as we start the conference season.
The Redbirds (11-9) will be looking to stop a hot Creighton team (18-4) thats currently on a 17-game winning streak after losing four of its first five games. The Bluejays are led by Preseason All-Valley pitcher Tammy Nielsen. Already this season, Nielsen has compiled an 11-2 record with a 0.60 ERA and three no-hitters.
Creighton was picked to finish second in the conference and they are very deserving of that pick, Fischer added. They return a lot of players with experience and they finished really strong last year. The fact that theyve put together a 17-game win streak tells us that they are really on top of their game right now.
It will be the first game for Illinois State in a week, after finishing 2-1 in the SIU Saluki Round Robin last weekend in Carbondale. The Birds downed Tennessee Tech, 4-1 and DePaul, 8-7, before falling to Kansas 4-3 in 11 innings.
Senior Emily Krueger, the most recent Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, is Illinois States leading hitter this season and has already tied the number of home runs and RBI that she had all last season. She leads the Birds in most offensive categories. After playing in all but one game this season, Krueger leads the Redbirds in batting average (.441), hits (26), home runs (6), RBI (16), total bases (50) and slugging percentage (.847).
The Redbirds (11-9) are 24-14 all-time against Creighton. Last season, Illinois State played the Jays four times. Creighton downed ISU, 1-0 in the opening game of the regular season series, but the Birds battled back and took the next two games, 2-0 and 1-0. The three regular season games were each decided by home runs. Illinois State struggled in the most important meeting between the two teams last season, its Valley Tournament opener, and fell 2-1. The Bluejays went on to win the tournament and earn the Valleys automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
