Sept. 12, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
Four months after it concluded its spring 2008 season with a 5-4 loss to Southern Illinois in the semifinals of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, the Illinois State softball team will resume action Sunday when it opens its fall tournament season by playing host to the second annual Redbird Round Robin at the recently renamed Marian Kneer Softball Stadium. The exhibition tournament will feature games against Saint Xavier and Illinois Central College (ICC).
Illinois State will open the tournament with a noon game against Saint Xavier. Following a 2:30 p.m. contest between Saint Xavier and ICC, the Redbirds will conclude Sunday's action at 5 p.m. against ICC.
"I'm very excited to get on the field against competition other than ourselves," said Illinois State head coach Melinda Fischer. "Going against other teams will help our staff in the evaluation of our players.
"Saint Xavier and ICC are two very good teams that will provide some great competition for us. We're going to use Sunday's games to find out a lot about our new players and about our team."
Saint Xavier, an NAIA school that competes in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, was 30-21 last spring, which included a 10-4 mark on the road.
ICC finished its spring season with a 38-19 record as a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association. Cougar head coach Heather Doty is a familiar presence in the central Illinois softball scene, as she was a former player at Missouri Valley Conference foe Bradley, while she also previously served as University High School's head coach.
The Redbirds are coming off a 28-20 spring season in which they failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. ISU returns 16 players from its 2008 squad, including seven of its eight position starters, its number one pitcher (senior Amber Smith) and its starting designated player (sophomore Abby Olson).
The Redbird Round Robin will also mark the first competitive action on the recently renamed Marian Kneer Softball Stadium. While an official dedication ceremony for the renaming will not take place until the spring 2009 season, the former Redbird Softball Complex took on its new name July 25, 2008, following a $250,000 donation by Dr. Marian Kneer to the ISU Athletics Department. Dr. Kneer is a longtime supporter of the Redbird softball program and of the Illinois State Athletics Department.
