April 16, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
Led by the winningest coach in Illinois State athletics history Melinda Fischer and the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week Amber Smith, the No. 19 Illinois State softball team rides a seven-game winning streak to Champaign-Urbana, Ill., to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini on Tuesday, April 17. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Eichelberger Field. The `Birds then continue the road trip to Terre Haute, Ind., for a Wednesday matchup against Indiana State. The Valley rivals will square off in the final game of a three-game series at 2 p.m. from Price Field.
Illinois State is currently in first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with its 36-9, 13-3 MVC record. Playing at home on Sunday, Illinois is fresh off a doubleheader split with No. 8 Michigan, 0-5 and 5-3. Indiana State, meanwhile, played a marathon 11-inning contest with Creighton on Sunday that saw the Sycamores win, 1-0. Sitting in ninth place in the MVC with a 16-20, 2-11 Valley slate, the Sycamores have taken one league contest from Creighton and Evansville, with both wins coming at Price Field.
The all-time series is tied between the Redbirds and the Fighting Illini, 4-4, but ISU has taken the last three meetings, including two earlier this season. Dating back to May 6, 2000, Illinois State has won the last 20 games with Indiana State and leads leads the all-time series against the Sycamores by a commanding 58-10 margin.
On March 20, 2007, Jessie Buker's seventh inning home run over the center field wall scored the game-tying run for the No. 17 Illinois State softball team and just a batter later, Casey Gorrell launched a walk-off homer to left and secured the 7-6 victory over in-state rival Illinois at Redbird Softball Complex. The `Birds also defeated the Fighting Illini on Feb. 10 at the Diamond Fun and Sun Classic in Miami, Fla., in a come-from-behind victory that was credited to Illinois State pitcher Stacy Birk. The senior, who allowed just one hit in just over seven innings of work through two games, picked up both wins in the circle on Saturday.
Against Indiana State earlier this year, a rain shower delayed the start of the doubleheader by almost an hour but strong pitching from seniors Stacy Birk and Shannon Nicholson boosted the Illinois State softball team to a pair of shutouts, 7-0 and 2-0, over the Sycamores at Redbird Softball Complex on March 28. Birk's shutout in game one tied the ISU career shutouts mark at 27, while Nicholson made her debut after sitting out nine games with a torn ACL.
