April 17, 2009
With just three weekends remaining in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and three-straight losses on its resume, the Illinois State softball team is still searching for the right combination of success and luck as it heads into its weekend conference series at Wichita State in Wichita, Kan. The Redbirds (18-20, 6-7 MVC), who are currently in a three-way tie for fifth place in The Valley, will square off against the eighth-place Shockers for a noon doubleheader Saturday, with the series finale scheduled for noon Sunday.
Live statistics and a live and INTERACTIVE blog for the entire series can be found on GoRedbirds.com.
Illinois State is coming off consecutive losses at No. 20 DePaul Wednesday. The Redbirds held a 1-0 lead through 6 2/3 innings in game one, but a two-out, walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning by DePaul's Jackie Turulli-Fisher gave the win to the Blue Demons. DePaul again got the best of Illinois State in game two with a 5-2 win. .
Historically, Illinois State has held a dominant advantage over the Shockers with a 53-15 lead in the all-time series. ISU has been even more dominant over Wichita State in games played in Wichita, Kan., where it has gone 22-8.
Illinois State took the series win last year in Normal, Ill., pulling out victories in games one (3-2) and three (1-0), with a 4-3 loss sandwiched in between.
Wichita State comes into the series with losses in six of its last eight games, including two of three last weekend in a pivotal conference series against Northern Iowa, followed by a midweek conference loss at Missouri State. Wichita State enters the series with a 16-25 overall record and a 6-10 league mark.
Despite its non-winning record, Wichita State is one of the top hitting teams in The Valley. The Shockers lead the league in on-base percentage (.372), while they are second in both batting average (.281) and slugging percentage (.402). Kara L'Huillier is the Shockers' leading hitter with a .368 batting average and team-highs for home runs (7), doubles (12) and RBI (32). L'Huillier's .632 slugging percentage is the fifth-highest in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The circle is where a majority of the Shockers' won-loss struggles have surfaced. Wichita State owns a 4.16 team ERA, one of the worst in the Missouri Valley Conference. Opposing batters are hitting .301 on the season against WSU pitchers, while the Shockers have walked over half as many batters (109) as they have struck out (208).
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