LYNCHBURG, Va. – After clinching the NISC Regional Title, Illinois State came up short to Lamar and Liberty in the National Invitational Softball Championship final to conclude the 2017 season with the Redbirds' best record in five years, including an MVC Championship.
"I'm incredibly proud of this team, especially our two seniors this year," head coach Melinda Fischer said. "They've accomplished so much this season. It was not the outcome we wanted today, but this has been a great season that ended with an MVC Championship and playing in this tournament."
"It all started in with our fall season to our foreign tour, to our early-tournament schedule that led us to a conference championship," Fischer said. "This NISC experience has taught us how to play in a regional format and we've taken this next step. The goal for this program is to be able to play past that. The records and firsts for this team are huge. They figured out how to get it done this year and I'm incredibly proud of this team."
Sarah Finck, Riley Strandgard, and Allison Spence were named to the NISC All-Tournament team for their performances in the regional and championship rounds.
Illinois State jumped to an early one-run advantage before Lamar took a 2-1 lead that the Redbirds could not over come in the first round of the NISC Tournament at Kamphuis Field on Monday morning. The Redbirds outhit the Cardinals 6-4 in the pitchers' duel led by a multi-hit effort by Spence and a single RBI by Strandgard. Lamar's Ashley McDowell had two hits with Brittany Rodriguez coming up with the pair of RBI for the Cardinals.
In game two, Liberty jumped to an early lead in the third inning that the Redbirds could not overcome, falling 3-0 to end the 2017 season. Spence slugged the lone hit for Illinois State in the fourth inning while both Jordan de los Reyes and Annie Heineman threatened on the bags but could not come home.
Illinois State concludes the 2017 season with a 33-24 record – their best mark since 2012. Lamar and Liberty move on with a 33-23 and 42-24 records, respectively. As a team, the 2017 Redbirds rank top-five in program history in eight statistical categories: home runs, walks, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits, RBIs, and total bases. Individually, de los Reyes, Strandgard and Spence set single-season records for the Redbirds. De los Reyes owns the single season home run, RBIs, and total bases records while Strandgard is the assists leader and Spence leads the program in putouts.
Game One: L, 2-1
Lamar led off with a double to left by McDowell, but back-to-back Sarah Finck strikeouts and a ground out ended the inning.
Riley Hale opened up the game for the Redbirds with a single through the right side, before Spence put runners on the corners with a single to the same spot. Strandgard plated Illinois State's first run with the team's third single, allowing Hale to come home. Alyssa Wiebel loaded the bases on a nine-pitch walk, but a clean groundout ended the inning.
Lamar responded with a back-to-back hits to take a 2-1 lead in the third off a Rodriguez two-run single.
Spence laced a single down the left line in the sixth as Taylor Vanderpool came in to run, but she was left on after consecutive fly outs.
Riley Phipps sparked a comeback effort with a pinch-hit single through the right side, but it was not enough as the Redbirds came up short, 2-1.
Finck hurled four strikeouts in the frame, taking the loss while Lamar's Ciara Luna earned the win.
Game Two: L, 3-0
De los Reyes showed why she was the Missouri Valley's Player of the Year, throwing out two runners from behind the plate with a pick off and caught stealing.
The Flames jumped on the board first, capitalizing on a Redbird miscue to score three unearned runs in the third.
In the fourth, Spence nocked the Redbirds' lone hit of the game through the right side, but she could not make it home.
Finck took the circle in the sixth, striking out her first two batters. Heineman threatened on second for the Redbirds in the bottom half of the frame, but held her off.
Illinois State made contact in the final inning, but could not come up with a run.
The Redbirds' starter Ali Domkuski tossed five complete innings striking out two with three unearned runs. Finck closed out the final two innings with a scoreless performance while Liberty's Kenzie Friesen went the distance for the win to end the Redbirds' season.
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