 Illinois State head softball coach Melinda Fischer views her team's
tough early season competition as a way to help prepare her squad
for the grind of the Missouri Valley Conference schedule.
"Our
scheduling philosophy is to schedule the best competition we
possibly can in order to compete against the best and to improve our
level of play," Fischer said. "If we take care of the pre-conference
season, then hopefully, we will be in a position to receive an
at-large bid to the NCAA tournament."
Illinois State has 11 players returning from a team that finished
44-17-1 last season en route to its second straight NCAA tournament
appearance. The 2007 Redbirds rewrote the ISU softball annals and
set school records for slugging percentage (.509), runs scored
(329), hits (489), home runs (83), runs batted in (308) and total
bases (839).
Included in the group of returnees is a duo of current Redbird
greats. Sophomore third baseman Kara Nelson (.415, 14 doubles, 21
RBIs in 2007), set individual single-season marks in both hits (90)
and runs (59) in just her first season at ISU, a feat that earned
her an Easton First-Team All-America selection. Also returning is
2006 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Third-Team All-America
selection junior Amber Smith (.328, 38 runs, 60 hits, 15 home runs
in 2007), who will make a position change to the circle in 2008 as
the Redbirds' No. 1 pitcher.
Continuing to make its mark as one of the premier softball
programs at the NCAA Division I level, ISU will visit four different
states and three separate time zones in a five-week span in February
and March before it embarks on its home schedule in mid-March.
The early season tournament slate will take the 'Birds first to
the Central Florida Tournament in Orlando on Feb. 8-10, 2008. There,
ISU will take on Central Arkansas and Central Florida on Feb. 8,
before concluding the tournament with games against Kansas (Feb. 9),
Missouri-Kansas City (Feb. 9) and 2007 NCAA tournament participant
North Carolina State (Feb. 10).
ISU will return to the Sunshine State the next weekend (Feb.
15-17) for the Florida International Tournament in Miami. Among the
squads the Redbirds will face is 2007 NCAA tournament participant
Georgia, as well as Providence, Ohio State and tournament host
Florida International.
Following two straight weekend tournaments in Florida, the
Redbirds will then make a 2,358-mile trek across the country to play
in the Littlewood Classic in Tempe, Ariz., Feb. 22-24. ISU will face
off against host Arizona State, a 2007 NCAA tournament team, as well
as Radford, Iowa, Miami of Ohio and Buffalo.
With three tournaments under its belt, ISU will be primed for one
of its toughest slates of games all season, as it competes in the
prestigious NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga., Feb. 29-March 2.
Awaiting the Redbirds will be a daunting group of opponents,
including 2007 WCWS runner-up Tennessee, NCAA tournament
participants North Carolina and Winthrop, North Carolina-Charlotte,
and Hofstra.
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While several of the Redbirds' 2008 pre-conference opponents have
the luxury of practicing outside all year, Fischer does not view the
fact that central Illinois' harsh winter weather forces her team
inside in the offseason as a detriment to her squad's preparation
for the season.
"By practicing inside during the winter, we are developing a
strong mental attitude that where, when and who we play does not
matter," Fischer said. "We are still playing the game."
With a challenging tournament schedule behind it, ISU will make
one final long, weekend road trip, as the Redbirds will travel to
Bowling Green, Ky., March 8-9 to face Western Kentucky in a
three-game series.
ISU will make its 2008 Redbird Softball Complex debut March 11
against Northern Illinois. Other nonconference games on the
Redbirds' 2008 schedule are a home-and-away series with in-state
rival Illinois (March 19 in Normal and April 16 in Champaign), and
away games at DePaul and Iowa, March 26 and April 9, respectively.
The first league series of the season for the 'Birds will take
place March 15-16, when ISU will play host to 2007 Missouri Valley
Conference Tournament champion Creighton. Also on ISU's home Valley
schedule are three-game series against Evansville (April 5-6),
Wichita State (April 19-20) and Drake (April 26-27). The Redbirds
also have an unique home-and-away Valley three-game set against
Indiana State, whereby the two teams will match up April 2 for a
doubleheader in Terre Haute, Ind., before the Sycamores make a
return trip to Redbird Softball Complex April 23 for a single
seven-inning game to conclude the series.
A highlight of ISU's road slate in the Valley is a three-game set
with Southern Illinois on March 29-30. The Salukis knocked the
Redbirds out of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
last season, before falling 6-2 to Creighton in the tournament's
championship game. Also on the Redbirds' road conference schedule
are three-game sets against Missouri State (March 21-22), Bradley
(April 12-13) and Northern Iowa (May 3-4).
The 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament is
slated for May 8-10 on the campus of Southern Illinois University in
Carbondale.
(ISU
softball facts)
[To download Adobe Acrobat Reader for
the PDF file, click
here.]
[Text from file received from
Keith Trivitt, athletics media relations graduate assistant,
Illinois
State University]
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