Illinois State will look to continue its win streak and even its Missouri Valley Conference record in a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Indiana State Wednesday. A 3 p.m. game was originally scheduled, but it has become a doubleheader at 2 p.m. due to the second game of the series being suspended on March 30 at Redbird Softball Complex.
The Sycamores (9-21, 4-12) put up a good fight against the Redbirds in their first meeting this season. In the fourth inning, Indiana State put two on with two outs courtesy of an ISU error and a walk. Alyssa Duncan then lifted a bloop single into shallow left field. The runner on second attempted to score but was thrown out at the plate. Ultimately, Randi Patton drove in the game-winner in the ninth inning on a RBI triple to right field with two outs. She drove in Jen Wright, who scored all the way from first after being hit by a pitch.
Patton continued her heroics in the second game. In the first with two on and two out, she hit a three-run home run to left field to give the Redbirds a 3-0 lead. However, the game was suspended following Pattons at bat due to lightning and severe thunderstorms. The game will resume Wednesday with Lauren Bierwirth up to bat in the bottom of the first with the bases empty and two outs.
Indiana State is coming off a pair of near misses against the league leading Creighton Bluejays. It lost the first game 8-1, before falling short in a pair of close losses (2-0, 1-0). The Sycamores have suffered a plight similar to that of the Redbirds recently. They are in the midst of a five-game losing streak, while the Birds just snapped a seven-game losing streak at Drake last weekend. Melinda Fischers Illinois State teams are 53-10 all-time against Indiana State.
The Birds (23-14, 7-9) got back to Redbird Softball last weekend with a pair of wins over Drake. They snapped out of their seven-game funk by knocking out eight and seven hits, respectively. The last time ISU had more than five hits in a game was in the Redbirds 2-1 win over Creighton on March 26. In the series finale, Illinois State downed the Bulldogs, 6-1. The last time the Birds scored more than four runs in a game was in their third game of the Bradley series nearly a month ago in an 8-0 win.
