March 16, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
Kicking off 2007 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season play, the No. 17 Illinois State Redbirds will host Northern Iowa in a three-game series at Redbird Softball Complex, March 17-18. The Valley rivals will play a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, followed by a single game on Sunday, with the first pitch scheduled for noon.
Illinois State enters the game atop the MVC standings with a 20-6 record, while Northern Iowa heads to Normal, Ill., with a 12-11 record after two wins Wednesday over Santa Clara. The Redbirds opened their home schedule on Wednesday, splitting a two-game series with Loyola. Dropping the first game 3-0, the loss snapped a six-game win streak as the `Birds collected only three hits. But ISU rebounded in game two with 12 hits and Illinois State claimed the 9-7 decision before the contest was called in the bottom of the fifth due to rain.
With the win, Redbird head coach Melinda Fischer notched her 700th victory at her alma mater. Fischer believes her team needs to return to a style of play they saw earlier in the season, focusing on having more consistent at bats.
"This team needs to play the type of game we have been playing pretty consistently this season," said Fischer. "Up until Wednesday, I thought we were playing complete softball games but in that first game against Loyola, our offense really stalled and we couldn't get a hit. We did not make offensive choices comparable to those we had been making in previous games. It's a matter of gaining confidence, timing and stepping to the plate with a positive attitude.
"Northern Iowa will be a lot like Loyola," Fischer continued. "They have good power and have traditionally been a good hitting ball club. They also have good speed and are capable of stealing some bases. Northern Iowa has played a tough, competitive schedule and did pretty well out in California last weekend. I think that all the Valley teams this season will give us good games and we are in a good, solid conference right now."
Northern Iowa enters the weekend road series with a 12-11 overall record and has spent the last week in California, playing nine total games against the likes of Santa Clara, San Jose State, UC-Davis, UC-Riverside and Cal. UNI went 4-5 in California, picking up three wins over Santa Clara and one decision against UC-Riverside. San Jose State, UC-Davis, Cal and San Jose State all beat the Panthers.
Illinois State owns a commanding lead in the all-time series with Northern Iowa at 49-13-1. Last season, the weekend series was cancelled due to inclement weather in Cedar Falls, Iowa. But in the teams' last meeting in 2005, ISU took two of three games from the Panthers, dropping the second game of the three-game home series in an eight-inning, 9-8 loss on April 30.
Playing three common opponents so far this year, the Panthers and the `Birds have both played Valley foe Bradley, IUPUI and UC-Riverside. UNI and Bradley squared off on Feb. 24 at the Schutt Showcase in Pekin, Ill., as the Braves downed Northern Iowa, 4-1. Also meeting at the Schutt Showcase, UNI defeated IUPUI on Feb. 25, 8-0. Most recently, the Panthers beat UC-Riverside on March 10, 5-3. ISU met the Highlanders at the Littlewood Classic, in Tempe, Ariz., downing UC-Riverside, 5-0. Illinois State defeated both Bradley and IUPUI last weekend at the Southeast Missouri State Spring Classic in shutout fashion, 8-0 and 11-0, respectively.
