Courtesy of Illinois State Athletics
NORMAL, Ill. – After the first game of the fall season, Illinois State head softball coach Melinda Fischer said her team had not focused on offense all that much, but that it would come later. It did come and it came in bunches as the Redbirds hosted Lake Land College Wednesday evening at Marian Kneer Stadium.
The game was played as a situational-type game with no official score being kept. However, it was clear that the offense was clicking for ISU. The Redbirds piled up 13 hits and batted .317 for the game. Eight different players recorded a hit.
“We were able to hit with runners in scoring position and we were able to get ourselves on base,” said Fischer. “I thought we had some good sacrifices to move runners over and we were pretty good on the bases, which helped us out as well. Collectively, our offense has definitely picked up.”
The offense has improved every game and the highlights against Lake Land came from the bats of Regan Romshek and Caitlyn Daly. Romshek belted a grand slam that landed on top of the batting cage beyond the left field fence. Daly came up a few innings later and unloaded a three-run shot of her own.
The outburst at the plate pleased Fischer, especially since the team has not focused on offense all that much.
“There are still a lot of things left to work on and some things we haven’t even introduced yet,” said Fischer. “At this point, though, I’m happy with what he did from an offensive standpoint last night.”
Sarah Finck started for ISU and the freshman was good again, this time going 3 2/3 innings and giving up no hits or runs. She struck out one while walking two and the first eight outs she recorded were ground balls.
“That’s Sarah’s strength,” said Fischer. “She is able to get hitters to keep the ball on the infield and we know we have to have a strong infield behind her because of the type of pitcher she is.”
While there were a few errors scattered throughout the contest, ISU’s defense was sharp again. Multiple times the Redbirds defense was able to work out of a jam and prevent Lake Land from having a big inning.
“I thought we did some good things [on defense],” said Fischer. “Overall I was really pleased. We’re doing a lot of switching around and there are a lot of different combinations up the middle and on the corners. The more opportunities we can give our players at this point in the season, the better we’re going to be.”
The Redbirds now prepare to travel for the first time this fall. Sunday they will play two games at Notre Dame. ISU faces off against the Irish at 1:15 and then Western Michigan at 3:30.
ISU’s next home game will be Oct. 2 against Illinois Central College at 6 p.m.
