April 21, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
One of the things that Illinois State softball coach Melinda Fischer and her staff have continued emphasizing to their players this season is that good at bats lead to production. Good at bats and contributions from a number of players have helped the Redbird offense avoid relying too much on one player. Fischer and her team will approach this weekend the same way as Wichita State comes to town for the three-game Missouri Valley Conference series this weekend.
"We keep focusing on having good at bats because the more good at bats you have the more opportunities you have to produce," Fischer said. "It's kind of been someone different (producing) each game or each weekend, which is really encouraging. A lot of our offensive balance has come from the experience our players have gained throughout the course of the season. They're learning a lot by watching each other and watching our opponents. Finally they have the mentality to pick up things that work for other people."
Illinois State (29-11, 14-4) will face a well-balanced Shocker squad, which returns all eight of its position starters from a year ago, as well as three pitchers. The biggest difference between this season and last is Wichita State's head coach. Mike Perniciaro is in his first season guiding the Shockers, and just his second as a Division I head coach.
"I can't really tell whether their style of play has changed (under their new coach)," Fischer said. "They have everyone back but (Lindsay) Craig, their pitcher who graduated, but she was a big part of their success. But Margo (Pruis) is a great pitcher and she's been putting up some good numbers. So have (Katie) McGeeney and (Britnee) Barnett on offense. They are a great hitting team with a lot of power. They were picked to win it (the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title), and there's a reason for that.
"I feel like we know their team a little more than last year, but it's really difficult to say because they have a new coach. Any time a team has a new coach the style of play could change, and Mike's done a great job with them."
Wichita State (32-16, 11-6), which was picked first in the 2006 Preseason Coaches Poll, won all four games against the `Birds last season, the fourth of which resulted in the end of the season for ISU as the Shockers eliminated them from the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. In the last three years, the regular season series between these teams has resulted in a sweep, two in favor of the `Birds.
"We've got to go out and play our game and take care of the fundamentals," Fischer said. "We need to try to create things and take advantage of things that happen. You approach every conference weekend the same way. You've got to be ready to play. We just need to play solid softball.
The series kicks off with a noon doubleheader at Redbird Softball Complex on Saturday, before the final game on Sunday at noon.