May 11, 2007
Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. -
The No. 21 Illinois State softball team was hitting the ball hard in Friday's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinal matchup against No. 22 Southern Illinois, but those hits were directly to the Saluki defense. The `Birds notched five hits but stranded eight base runners, falling to Southern Illinois, 3-0, and were eliminated from contention for the 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship title.
Illinois State now owns a 42-15-1 record, while SIU improves to 40-13 on the year. The Salukis will take on No.1 tournament seed Creighton at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in the tournament championship game.
Redbird head coach Melinda Fischer thought the game came down to getting timely hits, something ISU has been able to do all season.
"I think we battled out there," said Fischer. "The issue was us not getting timely hits. Southern Illinois was able to do that, and we were not. Getting the big hit has been one of our strengths all season, and were not able to get it going today. We had runners on second and third a couple of times, and had other opportunities. The timely hit just wasn't there today. Certainly, if we would have provided some offense for them (the pitchers), things could have ended up differently."
After two full scoreless innings, an RBI fielder's choice from second baseman Alicia Garza in the top of the third put Southern Illinois on the board with a 1-0 lead. The Redbirds loaded the bases with one out after a Saluki single and a fielder's choice from both Tiffanie Dismore and Becky Wegmann. Garza then hit into SIU's third consecutive fielder's choice and the `Birds were finally able to grab a second out at first base, but center fielder Krystal Stein crossed for Southern Illinois' first score.
Illinois State had a chance to score in the bottom half of the inning, after lead-off Casey Gorrell took first, hitting a single to the shortstop. Gorrell was joined on the bases by Jackie Williams who drew a walk off Saluki starter Ashley Hamby. But with two outs, second baseman Tiffany Prager popped out to shortstop Wegmann to strand both runners and end the scoring threat. The Salukis added run in the top of the fourth to take a 2-0 advantage. Katie Wilson, who reached a double to left field, scored on a Katie Wagner single to center.
The Redbirds stranded another pair of runners in the bottom of the fourth, and SIU went on to score in the top of the fifth, taking a 3-0 lead. Relief pitcher Stacy Birk loaded the bases after walking two consecutive Saluki batters. Catcher Jayme Walmsley was then credited with a sacrifice fly to right field as Dismore scored. Illinois State abandoned four runners between the fifth and sixth innings, failing to get a spark offensively as Southern Illinois held on for the win.
ISU starting pitcher Shannon Nicholson was credited with the loss, giving up two runs on four hits. Birk came in to pitch 3.2 innings in relief, giving up a run and four hits, while striking out just one batter. Birk did, however, lead the `Birds at the plate, gathering two hits in her three at bats.
Illinois State's fate is now in the hands of the NCAA Selection committee. The Redbirds will find out on Sunday, May 13 if they have received an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, continuing their 2007 season on the national stage. The selection show is slated to air from 2-3 p.m. (CST) on ESPNews.
