May 14, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
After being eliminated early from the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Saturday, the members of the Illinois State softball team sat on the edge of their chairs intently, yet nervously, watching ESPNews on Sunday afternoon in Redbird Arena waiting to see if they would receive at at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Redbirds watched anxiously while 13 of the 16 regions were revealed, when Illinois State finally graced the screen as a part of the Iowa City Regional the `Birds went wild.
The Redbirds (37-14) will face California ((44-12) in the Iowa City, Iowa Regional, which also features Nebraska (42-10) and Iowa (39-20). The top sixteen teams in the tournament are seeded prior to the bracket announcement, and the Golden Bears are No. 10. The `Birds are 17-38 all-time against the teams in their regional. Illinois State will play at 7 p.m. following the 4:30 p.m. contest between Nebraska and Iowa.
ISU head coach Melinda Fischer spoke to her team following the announcement.
"You have a second chance. Now do something with it," Fischer said. "This is the first time we've ever been an at-large pick. Three teams from the conference made it, and softball is one of the premiere sports in this conference. You guys are a big part of it and you should be proud of that. Just go out and play; this is where it's anybody's ball game."
Illinois State sat and watched as both Missouri State and Southern Illinois were invited to the tournament before them. The Bears received the Valley's automatic bid after defeating Wichita State Saturday in the tournament championship, 4-0. SIU received its fourth straight at-large bid, despite being the first team eliminated from the conference tournament for the past two seasons.
"I didn't think we had a good shot since the first region that was announced had No. 1 UCLA against Missouri State. That kind of bothered me because usually that means they (the members of the selection committee) don't think very highly of the conference," Fischer said. "Then when I saw the Northwestern Regional, I was really concerned because I truly thought that's where we would be going if we got in. But I think it's great for our conference to have three teams in."
The Redbirds, who will be making their fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, received their first at-large bid to the tournament. Illinois State earned the conference's automatic berth to the tournament in 1988, 1995, 2000 and 2001. This is the second straight season that the Missouri valley Conference softball teams will compete in the NCAA Tournament.
"I thought our chances were pretty slim since we didn't get to the (conference) championship game," senior captain and first-team all-conference selection Tricia Gaither said. "When I saw that Southern (Illinois) got in, I thought our chance to get in got even slimmer. But we're in and that's all that matters."
"I was really nervous coming in here today, but I knew we had to get in. I couldn't find a reason why we wouldn't," Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year Amber Smith said. "But sitting here my heart was racing and I couldn't sit down. This is the most stressful situation I've ever been in."
"I'm really happy for this group, they really deserved this," Fischer said. "We put together a couple good winning streaks, and after going 1-6 to start the season they really came together. We got things ironed out and they got comfortable playing with each other. Different people have stepped up all season. Now it doesn't matter who we play."
