After achieving a 3-2 record to open its season, the Illinois State softball team travels south to Oxford, Miss., for the Ole Miss Rebel Classic.
The tournament field consists of host Ole Miss, Tennessee-Martin, Southern Miss and Louisiana-Monroe. Southern Illinois and Ball State are also participating in the tournament, but the Redbirds will not face either.
We dont know a whole lot about any of the teams well be playing so this will be a good test for us, head coach
Melinda Fischer said. It will just be good for us to get outside to see where we are now to determine the things we need to work on to get to where we want to be. Playing some back-to-back games will also help us prepare for conference.
The Redbirds will be competing in the Rebel Classic for the first time in the history of the ISU softball program. It will also be the first time that the Birds will take on tournament foes, Southern Miss and Tennessee-Martin. The Birds are 1-0 all-time against Louisiana-Monroe, while they dropped their only meeting with Ole Miss.
Ole Miss, which the Birds play at noon Saturday, enters the tournament with a 3-2 record. The Rebels two losses this season were to the No. 7 Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns on the Cajuns home field in the Mardi Gras Classic. Last season the Rebels finished 15-37 overall and in fifth place in the West Division of the SEC. Tennessee-Martin opens its season at the Rebel Classic after finishing its 2004 campaign with a 40-21 mark including a second place finish in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Skyhawks were 0-4 against Valley teams Indiana State and Southern Illinois last season. ISU takes on UTM at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
On Sunday, Illinois State clashes with Southern Miss at 9 a.m. before an 11:30 match-up with Louisiana-Monroe, which finished 13-48 in 2004. ULM has already established a 3-3 mark this season, including a win over No. 22 Illinois at the Getterman Classic in Waco, Texas. Its three losses were to ranked teams. Against Valley teams Northern Iowa, Wichita State and SMS, the Lady Indians were 0-3 last season. The Golden Eagles of Southern Miss competed in the NCAA Tournament last season, finishing the season with a 33-26 overall record. USM won the Conference USA regular season, but was knocked out of the NCAA Regional in Palo Alto, Calif., by Southern Illinois.
Last weekend, the Redbirds opened their season with three wins over SEC teams and losses to Florida International and No. 21 South Florida in the Diamond Fun and Sun Classic in Miami. Pitcher Shannon Nicholson and shortstop Dominique Borba were named to the all-tournament team, while the Missouri Valley Conference recognized Nicholson and centerfielder Lauren Bierwirth as Valley Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively.
We learned a lot from the tournament last weekend, Fischer said. We really need to pick it up when we have runners in scoring position. Its also important for our pitchers to step up this weekend.
