NORMAL, Ill. – After playing the first 31 games of the season on the road, the Illinois State softball team (11-20, 5-0 MVC) will host Southern Illinois (18-9, 5-3 MVC) this weekend for its first home Missouri Valley Conference series of 2019.
Due to inclement weather expected in the Bloomington-Normal area, the Redbirds and the Salukis are now scheduled to play a single game at 3 p.m. on Saturday and a doubleheader on Sunday set to begin at 12 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY
Illinois State holds a slim 73-67 series advantage over Southern Illinois, winning just one of the last five meetings and two out of the last 10. The Redbirds are 13-15 against the Salukis at Marian Kneer Stadium since the turn of the century.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
Southern Illinois enters the weekend with an overall record of 18-9 and a 5-3 mark in Valley play. Winners of their last five, the Salukis most recently run-ruled UT-Martin on Wednesday evening, 11-2, courtesy of a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jenny Jansen is currently leading SIU at the plate, batting .400, while Ashley Wood has a team-leading 31 RBI. In the circle, the Salukis are led by Brianna Jones, who has a 2.08 ERA.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois State extended its win streak to five games and kept an unblemished conference record with a pair of wins at Indiana State last weekend. Out-scoring the Sycamores 22-3, the Redbirds opened the series with an 8-1 win, before taking the second game of a doubleheader, 14-2, limiting Indiana State to just a single earned run in the series. The last time the Redbirds opened Missouri Valley Conference play with a perfect 5-0 record dates back to 2017, while ISU's 57 runs scored through its first five league games is a program high. Senior Allison Spence was named the MVC Player of the Week on Monday, as the infielder went a team-leading .750 at the plate with a 1.375 slugging percentage and .750 on-base percentage against the Sycamores. ISU's 15 hits in game two marked a season-high.
ON DECK
The Redbirds will open the month of April with a mid-week contest at Illinois on April 3, before returning home April 6-7 for a three-game series with UNI.
For updates on Illinois State Softball, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdsSB) and Instagram (@redbirdsoftball).
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
