TEMPE, Ariz. – After a weekend in Tampa, Florida, to open the season, the Illinois State softball team is on the other side of the country for another five-game slate. The Redbirds will open the weekend with two games Friday night at Arizona State.
ISU comes to Arizona with a 2-3 record. The Redbirds opened the season with a 10-inning walkoff victory over Jacksonville. Jordan de los Reyes hit the game-tying home run and then laced a walkoff single to end it. However, later that night the Redbirds tasted their first defeat of the season when they were no-hit by South Florida.
The Redbirds picked up another win in Tampa, defeating Hampton 5-1 and then ran into two top ten teams. ISU hung with No. 1 Florida for four innings, trailing just 3-0. The Gators' bats awoke in the fifth inning though, and they run-ruled ISU 8-0.
The Redbirds then closed the weekend with a 4-1 defeat against No. 8 Michigan. ISU was leading 1-0 for the first half of the game, but the Wolverines were able to put together a three-run inning and then squashed any Redbird rally that materialized.
This weekend at the Arizona State Littlewood Classic the Redbirds will have three more chances against ranked opponents. ISU will face No. 21 Arizona State Friday night along with a North Texas team that features the reigning National Player of the Week in Taylor Schoblocher. Schoblocher belted six home runs and had 12 RBIs last week.
Saturday ISU will face No. 15 Washington and No. 4 Oklahoma. Both teams mowed down opponents last week and OU received a number one vote in the latest NFCA poll.
The 'Birds close out the weekend against Boston in the first of two matchups between the two teams this season. Boston has yet to play a game this season, but ISU will also face the Terriers at Texas A&M at the end of the month.
The Redbirds open the weekend with North Texas at 4:45 CT Friday evening. A live audio broadcast will be available on GoRedbirds.com and fans can follow the team on Twitter @ISU_Softball.
Fans can also listen to the newest edition of The Melinda Fischer Show here: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/isu/
GoRedbirds.com:Â Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
