Nov. 20, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
While the temperatures outside and the calendar may indicate otherwise, spring and Illinois State softball are just around the corner. Given this fact, the Redbird softball team released its 2008 schedule Tuesday. Illinois State, which finished the 2007 season with a 4-1 loss to Northwestern in the Evanston, Ill., regional May 20, will take on 10 teams in 2008 that made NCAA Tournament appearances last season, including three squads that participated in the 2007 Women's College World Series (WCWS).
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Illinois State head softball coach Melinda Fischer views her team's tough early-season competition as a way to help prepare her squad for the grind of the Missouri Valley Conference slate.
"Our scheduling philosophy is to schedule the best competition we possibly can in order to compete against the best and to improve our level of play," Fischer said. "If we take care of the pre-conference season, then hopefully, we will be in a position to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament."
Illinois State has 11 players returning from a team that finished 44-17-1 last season en route to its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The 2007 Redbirds rewrote the ISU softball annals and set school records for slugging percentage (.509), runs scored (329), hits (489), home runs (83), runs batted in (308) and total bases (839).
Included in the group of returnees is a duo of current Redbird greats. Sophomore third baseman Kara Nelson (.415, 14 doubles, 21 RBI in 2007), set individual single-season marks in both hits (90) and runs (59) in just her first season at ISU, a feat that earned her Easton First-Team All-America and Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I Second-Team All-America plaudits. Also returning is 2006 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Third-Team All-America selection junior Amber Smith (.328, 38 runs, 60 hits, 15 home runs in 2007), who will make a position change to the circle in 2008 as the Redbirds' No. 1 pitcher.
Continuing to make its mark as one of the premier softball programs at the NCAA Division I level, ISU will visit four different states and three separate time zones in a five-week span in February and March before it embarks on its home schedule in mid-March.
The `Birds early-season tournament slate will take them first to the Central Florida Tournament in Orlando Feb. 8-10, 2008. There, ISU will take on Central Arkansas and Central Florida Feb. 8, before concluding the tournament with games against Kansas (Feb. 9), Missouri-Kansas City (Feb. 9) and 2007 NCAA Tournament participant North Carolina State (Feb. 10).
ISU will return to the Sunshine State the next weekend (Feb. 15-17) for the Florida International Tournament in Miami. Among the squads that the Redbirds will face are 2007 NCAA Tournament participants Georgia and Ohio State, as well as Providence and tournament-host Florida International.
Following two-straight weekend tournaments in Florida, the Redbirds will then make a 2,358-mile trek across the country to play in the Littlewood Classic in Tempe, Ariz., Feb. 22-24. ISU will face off against host Arizona State, a 2007 WCWS participant, as well as Radford, Iowa, Miami (Ohio) and Buffalo.
With three tournaments under its belt, ISU will be primed for one of its toughest slate of games all season, as it competes in the prestigious NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga., Feb. 29-March 2. Awaiting the Redbirds will be a daunting group of opponents, including 2007 WCWS runner-up Tennessee; NCAA Tournament participants North Carolina and Winthrop; North Carolina-Charlotte; and Hofstra.
While several of the Redbirds' 2008 pre-conference opponents have the luxury of practicing outside all year, Fischer does not view the fact that central-Illinois' harsh winter weather forces her team inside in the offseason as a detriment to her squad's preparation for the season.
"By practicing inside during the winter, we are developing a strong mental attitude that where, when and who we play does not matter," Fischer said. "We are still playing the game."
With a challenging tournament schedule behind it, ISU will make one final long, weekend road trip, as the Redbirds will travel to Bowling Green, Ky., March 8-9 to face Western Kentucky in a three-game series.
ISU will make its 2008 Redbird Softball Complex debut March 11 against Northern Illinois. Other non-conference games on the Redbirds' 2008 schedule include a home-and-away series with in-state rival Illinois (March 19 in Normal, Ill.; April 16 in Champaign, Ill.), and away games at DePaul and Iowa, March 26 and April 9, respectively.
The first league series of the season for the `Birds will take place March 15-16, when ISU will play host to 2007 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champion Creighton. Also on ISU's home Valley schedule are three-game series against Evansville (April 5-6), Wichita State (April 19-20) and Drake (April 26-27). The Redbirds also have an unique home-and-away Valley three-game set against Indiana State, whereby the two teams will matchup April 2 for a doubleheader in Terre Haute, Ind., before the Sycamores make a return trip to Redbird Softball Complex April 23 for a single seven-inning game to conclude the series.
A highlight of ISU's road Valley slate is a three-game set with Southern Illinois March 29-30. The Salukis knocked the Redbirds out of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament last season, before falling, 6-2, to Creighton in the tournament's championship game. Also on the Redbirds' road conference schedule are three-game sets against Missouri State (March 21-22), Bradley (April 12-13) and Northern Iowa (May 3-4).
The 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament is slated to be held May 8-10, 2008, on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill.
