NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State softball team (9-9) will head to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this weekend to participate in the LSU Round Robin, March 6-8, before playing a single game against Southern University on March 9.
LINEUP
LSU Round Robin – Baton Rouge, La.
Friday, March 6 – vs. Campbell, 3:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, March 7 – vs. Campbell, 11 a.m. CT
Saturday, March 7 – at No. 5/4 LSU, 4 p.m. CT
Sunday, March 8 – at No. 5/4 LSU, 1 p.m. CT
Monday, March 9 – at Southern University, 3 p.m. CT
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois State finished second in Western Kentucky's Holiday Inn Hilltopper Spring Fling in Bowling Green, Kentucky, this past weekend. The Redbirds used an 18-strikeout performance from Morgan Day in the circle to open the five-game set with a 5-0 win over IUPUI. ISU returned to the field 30 minutes later and defeated Austin Peay, 11-4, behind a 3-for-4 effort at the dish by Mack Leonard and Spenser Strandgard. The Redbirds fell 5-2 to the tournament-host Hilltoppers on the second day, before bouncing back for a 5-4 victory over Austin Peay, as Leonard and Dayna Kennedy turned in multi-hit performances. ISU fell 12-1 in five innings in the championship game against WKU, ending the weekend 3-2 overall.
CAREER WIN NO. 1,100
With an 11-4 decision against Austin Peay on Feb. 28, Illinois State head coach secured her 1,100th career victory. Fischer's 1,101 career victories spread out among 36 seasons as a collegiate head coach, at both Eastern Illinois (1979-80) and Illinois State (1986-present), rank her as the 19th-winningest coach in NCAA Division I softball history and the 11th-winningest active head coach.
HAVE A DAY, MO DAY!
Morgan Day did not disappoint at WKU's Hilltopper Spring Fling this past weekend. The right-handed hurler tossed her second-career one-hitter in a 5-0 shutout of IUPUI to open the tournament, striking out 18 of the 23 batters she faced. Day's 18 strikeouts tied the single-game program record, as she was the first Redbird to toss that many since Nicole Kurth set the record in 2001. She returned to the field in ISU's second game of the day, stepping into the circle and pitching 4.1 innings in relief, striking out 10 more batters to finish with 28 strikeouts in 11.1 innings of work, holding her opponents to a combined .054 batting average. The junior didn't give up an earned run until the final game of the weekend, making four appearances in the circle and posting a 1.84 ERA in 19.0 innings of work.
DOUBLE DOWN
Alyssa Wiebel added two more doubles to her season total after recording one in a pair of wins this weekend. Wiebel's team-leading nine doubles leads the MVC, while ranking sixth in NCAA Division I in the category and 15th in doubles per game (0.50). Teammate Mack Leonard sits behind Wiebel in the Valley charts and No. 15 in NCAA Division I with eight doubles, after the sophomore boasted a .500 batting average at the plate this weekend, finishing with four doubles.
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