May 17, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
Just five days after hearing its 2007 season was being continued and they had been named an at-large bid to the 2007 NCAA Softball Championship, the No. 25 Illinois State softball team will take on Notre Dame in the Evanston Regional. The `Birds (42-15-1) and the Fighting Irish (31-22) will go head-to-head at noon on Friday from Sharon J. Drysdale field on the campus of Northwestern University.
Illinois State head coach Melinda Fischer gave a brief overview of the Redbirds first round opponent.
"Notre Dame is very well-balanced. They have good power and good speed," said Fischer. "They are coming off of a strong tournament appearance in the BIG EAST conference tournament and built some momentum with that performance. Notre Dame is traditionally a strong program and technically solid both offensively and defensively."
The `Birds, who will be making their sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, received their second at-large bid to the tournament, with the last coming in 2006. Illinois State is 7-10 (.412) all time in the NCAA Tournament, with its last win coming in 2006 over Iowa, 3-2. This year, ISU was named the No. 2 seed in the region and will serve as the home team for Friday's game vs. Notre Dame.
After finishing fourth in the regular-season standings, Notre Dame hosted the BIG EAST Tournament and reached the finals before losing, 3-2, to Louisville. The Fighting Irish, who earned an at-large bid, have reached the NCAA Tournament for the ninth consecutive season and are making their12th overall appearance in school history.
Illinois State and Notre Dame will square off for the second time in a regional setting, after meeting in the NCAA Regional Championship game in 2001. The Fighting Irish ended the Redbird's 2001 season, handing them a 2-1 loss on March 18 in Iowa City, Iowa. Notre Dame owns a 4-1 lead in the all-time series with Illinois State, with meetings in 1993, 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2003. ISU's lone win came on March 1, 1997, when the `Birds shutout UND, 8-0.
"We need to take this one game at a time," said Fischer. "We know we play Notre Dame tomorrow and that needs to be our main focus right now. Offensively, we need to consistently have good at bats and then go out and play good defense. We also need to have some good, timely things happen. I believe that if we do all that, we will come away with a positive result."
