NORMAL, Ill. – For the second-straight weekend the Illinois State softball will travel to the state of Indiana for a three game Missouri Valley Conference series. The Redbirds will take on Evansville with a pair of games Saturday and the series finale Sunday.
ISU has taken two out of three from both Northern Iowa and Indiana State, but dropped a nonconference contest Wednesday against Northern Illinois. The Redbirds hosted the Huskies and the two went to extra innings tied at three.
In the eighth inning, NIU broke the tie with a three-run home run and won the game 6-3. It was ISU's first loss in extra innings this season. They were 3-0 prior to the loss.
The Redbirds enter this weekend swinging the bat well. The team has hit 33 home runs, including two on Wednesday. Regan Romshek has been leading the offense of late, hitting a team-high .356 with eight homers and 23 RBIs. Romshek is currently on a seven-game hitting streak, which is the second-longest for a Redbird this season.
Right behind Romshek is Annie Heineman. Batting from the leadoff position, Heineman has a .354 average with a team-high 35 hits. She has also scored a team-high 23 runs.
The Redbirds have won four of their last six and enter the weekend with a 13-18 record overall and a 4-2 record in the MVC. Evansville is 7-24 overall and 1-5 in the MVC.
First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 12 p.m. and game two will follow at 2:30. Sunday's game will begin at 12 p.m. A live audio broadcast for all three games will be available on GoRedbirds.com.
Team Notes
Power Surge
The Redbirds continued to knock the ball out of the park last weekend, hitting eight home runs in three games. Five different players hit a home run with Riley Strandgard, Jordan de los Reyes and Kelsey Turczyn all hitting two. None were bigger than Turczyn's, a three-run shot that proved to be the game-winner during Sunday's 10-9 win over Indiana State. ISU then hit two more Wednesday against Northern Illinois.
Comeback Kids
During Sunday's finale, ISU found themselves down 6-1 in the series finale against Indiana State. Thanks to some timely home runs, the Redbirds battled back to tie the game at 6-6. Once again, they fell behind 7-6 before rallying in the top of the seventh and then holding the Sycamores in the bottom of the frame to leave Terre Haute with a 10-9 win.
Winning the Series
The Redbirds have lost game one of each of their Missouri Valley Conference series this season. However, in both weekends they have battled back to win the next two games and take the series. Last week ISU fell, 8-5, in game one before taking game two, 6-1, and game three, 10-9.
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