Sept. 6, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
After starting its fall season with a 12-inning simulated scrimmage against Heartland Community College Monday, the Illinois State softball team has its first true test of the fall season this weekend when it hosts the annual Illinois State Fall Classic at Champion Fields in Normal. The ISU Fall Classic will be the first of two tournaments that the Redbirds host this fall, as the Redbird Round Robin, a new tournament on ISU's fall schedule, will be held Sept. 15 at Redbird Softball Complex.
The `Birds welcome seven teams to the ISU Fall Classic Saturday and Sunday, including Illinois Central College (ICC), Heartland Community College, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Lake Land College, Saint Xavier and Missouri Valley Conference foes Southern Illinois-Carbondale and Bradley.
Head coach Melinda Fischer and her squad, which includes 11 newcomers and 12 returnees from last year's NCAA Tournament team, are eager to test themselves with tough competition and different offensive and defensive combinations as they continue to prepare for the 2008 season.
"I want to see what our team can do with different combinations out on the field," said Fischer. "We're looking for our pitchers to go a longer distance than they did in the scrimmage against Heartland. We're trying different combinations, both on the infield and in the outfield and seeing how those combinations work together, as well as trying out different combinations in the batting order.
"I was pleased with what I saw from our scrimmage against Heartland. We understand that we're getting into a different situation with full games, and I think we're going to see some different things this weekend that we have yet to see in our practices."
ISU will take the field at 10 a.m. Saturday against ICC. The Cougars finished 15-25 last season and are led by second-year head coach Heather Doty. Illinois State will then face Lake Land College at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The Lakers were 35-14 last year and are under the direction of head coach Denny Throneburg.
"Both ICC and Lake Land are very good programs," said Fischer. "I know from past experiences that both teams are very fundamentally sound. Playing teams such as ICC and Lake Land gives us a chance to look at players on the junior college level that we might be interested in recruiting."
On Sunday, the Redbirds face 2007 NCAA Division II National Champion Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at 12:15 p.m. The Cougars are coming off a season in which they finished with a 49-8 record en route to winning their second-straight Great Lakes Valley Conference title. ISU will then take the field against Valley adversary Bradley in the tournament's finale at 4:45 p.m. Bradley was 26-23 last season, with ISU winning all three meetings between the two schools.
"Anytime you get to play a defending national champion (SIU-E), no matter at what point in the season it is, it is a great experience for our players," said Fischer. "With Bradley being a Missouri Valley Conference opponent, it gives us an opportunity to see its team early. I thought that Bradley had a good season last year, especially toward the end of the season. I think it will be interesting to see how our game (against Bradley) plays out Sunday."
A complete schedule of tournament games and times can be found by clicking below:
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