April 24, 2009
After a crushing 4-1 Missouri Valley Conference loss at ninth-place Indiana State Wednesday, the Illinois State softball team (20-22, 8-9 MVC) will return home from its recent 10-game road trip to play host to fourth-place Northern Iowa (31-18, 12-8) Saturday and Sunday in the Redbirds' second-to-last home series of the season at Marian Kneer Softball Stadium. First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader against the Panthers is slated for noon.
RELATED LINKS
News: Illinois State to Honor Kneer, Kennedy Saturday (April 22, 2009)
News: July 25, 2008: Illinois State BOT Approves Marian Kneer Softball Stadium
Marian Kneer Softball Stadium Photo Gallery
The three-game weekend series will feature a bevy of ceremonial activity.
The ceremonies will begin in earnest just prior to the first pitch of game one Saturday, when the Illinois State Athletics Department will honor Marian Kneer, for whom the ISU softball team's home facility is now named after. Kneer donated $250,000 to Illinois State Athletics in July 2008.
In between games of Saturday's doubleheader, former Illinois State pitching coach Bill Kennedy will be honored with an on-field ceremony. Kennedy coached the Redbird pitchers for 24 years prior to his retirement in February.
The weekend's ceremonies will conclude Sunday, when Illinois State's five-member senior class of Jessie Buker, Casey Gorrell, Katie Mathis, Amber Smith and Kaprice Williams will be honored following the game.
Northern Iowa is having one of its best seasons in recent memory. Much of the Panthers' success thus far can be attributed to their 2-1 series win earlier this season over then-nationally-ranked Southern Illinois. Those victories gave UNI national recognition when it received votes in both national top-25 polls.
The Panthers are hitting a league-best .277 as a team, which includes conference-highs for nearly every major offensive statistic, including: slugging percentage (.439), runs scored (245), hits (378), RBI (221) and home runs (46).
UNI's top hitter is Megan Machovec, who leads the team with a .369 batting average and 65 hits in 176 at-bats. In the power department, Rachel Gerking's nine home runs are three shy of the team high, while her 48 RBI easily lead the team.
The Panthers are less sharp in the circle, where they own a .276 team ERA that includes nearly as many walks (142) as strikeouts (160).
Leading the pitching staff is Jen Larson, who has consistently been one of The Valley's top pitchers and a perennial pest to ISU hitters. Larson owns a 17-10 record and a 1.95 ERA, but has struggled with both her command (60 walks against 66 strikeouts) and keeping batters off base (.252 opposing batting average).
Illinois State leads the all-time series against Northern Iowa, 54-14-1, with a 30-5 mark all-time against the Panthers in games played in Normal, Ill. The Redbirds have won six of the last seven games in the series, with the lone setback coming in game one of last year's series in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
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