Sept. 22, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
After thunderstorms caused an early end to last weekend's tournament in Orland Park, Ill., the Illinois State women's softball team is anxious to return to the field at the Reverse Exposure Tournament in Kirkwood, Mo., on Sunday Sept. 24. In their third tournament of the fall, hosted by Saint Louis University, the Redbirds will take on SLU at noon and face off with Southern Illinois at 4 p.m.
Illinois State head coach Melinda Fischer is looking forward to a new opponent in Saint Louis, as well as an old rivalry with the Salukis.
"SLU is a school I don't know much about," said Fischer. "If we have ever played them, it has been a long time ago and they have a new coach this year. But that is sometimes good. We don't know a lot about them, we just have to go out and play our game. Southern, on the other hand, we definitely know each other. I think that will be interesting to see what we do against them. They have great defense, great pitching and great hitting. And we need to be able to be competitive with them.
The `Birds are 5-0-1 through a pair of tournaments, dominating Indiana 11-1 on Sept. 17 at the Chicagoland Fall Classic. Illinois State's second game of the afternoon was called in the bottom of the seventh inning, as the `Birds had runners in scoring position but were tied, 3-3, with DePaul. Rain caused an early end to that game and cancelled ISU's third game of the Chicagoland Fall Classic against Loyola.
"It looks like the weather could play a factor in this weekend's tournament as well, but after last weekend, I think now I have a better understanding of what we really have," Fischer went on. "I'm comfortable with some parts of our lineup and there are other parts that we are still working out. We have some real versatility, especially at the left infield positions."
Dominating defense and solid pitching have propelled Illinois State in the fall, as the Redbirds have allowed just five runs in all six games. Fischer is looking for that trend to continue, as the `Birds travel to this weekend's tournament.
"We've been pleased with our defense, especially with our younger kids picking up some of things we do in our program," said Fischer. "If we can continue to build on that and keep adding things on a weekly basis, we are going to be in a good position to start out the season.
"With Stacy (Birk) and Shannon (Nicholson) coming back as seniors, they know what to expect," continued Fischer. "They know how to prepare and what they need to do for us. They have certainly been able to do good things in the circle. I think the defense and the pitching has really been there for us. I think the offense is consistently improving and it is just something that we have the opportunity to work on when we're finished with the fall season."
