Feb. 7, 2008
Central Florida Tournament Game Notes 
NORMAL, Ill. -
After an 11-game fall tournament season and six months of practice and preparation, the Illinois State softball team will open its 2008 season at 10:30 a.m. CST Friday against Central Arkansas at the Central Florida Tournament in Orlando. The Redbirds will play five games in three days, as they take on the Bears and host Central Florida (3 p.m.) Friday, followed by Kansas (8:30 a.m.) and 2007 NCAA Tournament participant North Carolina State (12:30 p.m.) Saturday, with the tournament concluding Sunday in bracket play.
After making a trip to its second-straight NCAA Tournament in 2007 and ending the season with a 44-17-1 record, the second-most wins in program history, Illinois State begins its 44th season of intercollegiate softball (26th at the NCAA Division I level) when it starts play at the Central Florida Tournament. The tournament will mark the first time the team has played outside competitively since fall practices ended.
"The transition from playing inside to playing outside is always an interesting one," Illinois State head softball coach Melinda Fischer said. "Defensively, we need to see where we have solid performances; and offensively, it comes down to seeing where we are at this point. We need to treat each and every inning as a process, and we understand that."
Former all-Americans Kara Nelson (2007) and Amber Smith (2006) highlight a Redbird softball team that includes four former All-Missouri Valley Conference selections and one former MVC Player of the Year (Nelson - 2007). The biggest question mark facing the Redbirds in 2008 is their starting pitching, as ISU returns just 6.9 percent of its wins from last season after the graduation of first-team All-MVC selection Stacy Birk and 2007 Easton Second-Team All-American Shannon Nicholson.
Despite having lost over 90 percent of its pitching staff from a year ago, the Redbirds appear to be on the right track for yet another successful season in 2008, as Illinois State received 23 votes in the preseason USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Poll released Jan. 23. ISU's 23 votes tied with Missouri Valley Conference member Creighton for 31st-most in the nation, and were an increase of 21 votes over its 2007 preseason ranking.
SEASON-OPENING HISTORY
Illinois State is 16-14 in season-opening games, dating back to the 1978 season. In the Melinda Fischer-era (1986-present), the Redbirds are 9-13 in season openers and have lost two-straight games. ISU's last two season-opening losses both came in tournament play against nationally-ranked teams, as the Redbirds were defeated, 1-0, by then-No. 3 Tennessee in 2006 at the Coastal Carolina Tournament; and in 2007, ISU lost, 3-1, to then-No. 20 Oklahoma at the Diamond Fun & Sun Classic.
AGAINST THE FIELD
Illinois State has previously faced just one of its opponents in the Central Florida Tournament: Kansas. The Jayhawks lead the all-time series by a slim, 13-12 margin, and have won seven of the last 10 games. Illinois State and Kansas last met March 14, 2004, at the Saluki Round Robin in Carbondale, Ill., with the Redbirds suffering a 4-3, 11-inning loss.
FOURTH-AND-GOAL
With just six percent of its pitching staff back from a team that finished with a school second-best 44 wins in 2007, it was widely known that the Redbirds were not going to be the No. 1 pick in The Valley's Preseason Coaches' Poll, released Wednesday. That nod went to 2007 MVC regular-season and tournament champion Creighton, which received nine-of-10 first-place votes. What was surprising, however, was that the Redbirds were picked fourth after finishing second in The Valley regular season in 2007. Wichita State, which ended the 2007 season with 18 wins in its final 21 games, took the second spot, while Southern Illinois, the Redbirds and Missouri State rounded out the top-five.
PICKING UP RIGHT WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
While Illinois State as a team may have been slightly snubbed in the preseason Valley poll, there was no doubt that Nelson (third base) and junior utility player Jessie Buker (utility) were going to get selected to the preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference team. Both players had prodigious offensive seasons for Illinois State in 2007, with Nelson hitting .415 and setting a Valley and ISU single-season record for hits (90), and Buker finishing the year with 16 home runs, 51 RBI and a .322 batting average. The honor marked the first-career preseason All-Valley selection for each player.
