Blaine Kinsey
GoSycamores.com
The Indiana State softball team will return to action this
weekend at the Magic City Classic hosted by the University of Alabama
Birmingham and Samford. The Sycamores who are 1-3 on the season after the
UL-Monroe Tournament will play four games in three days. The Sycamores will
first square off against Eastern Kentucky on Friday at 2:30 p.m. before playing
Samford and Lipscomb on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The Sycamores will
then wrap up the tournament against Eastern Illinois at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.
The Sycamores opened the season at the UL-Monroe Tournament
two weeks ago where they got their first win 6-1 over Northwestern State. The
Sycamores had last week off after wet field conditions forced the cancelation
of a two game series with IPFW.
Scouting the
competition: Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Kentucky is 4-3 on the season entering Friday's game
with the Sycamores having last seen the field Saturday, Feb. 23 where they
swept a doubleheader against Western Kentucky.
In 2010 the Colonels finished the season with a 15-34 record
and were 9-14 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Junior outfielder Diane Gallagher
returns as the team leader in batting average after finishing second on the
team last season with a .325 average. Gallagher had 54 hits and 34 stolen
bases.
Scouting the competition:
Samford
Samford enters the tournament with a 2-8 record having last
played in the Quality Inn Classic last weekend where they finished 1-4. This
will be the Bulldogs 2011 home opener.
In 2010 the Bulldogs had a 19-31 overall record and were
10-14 in Southern Conference play. However, this season Stephanie VanBrakle
takes over the reigns of the program from former head coach Beanie Ketcham.
Freshman infielder Julianne Surane leads the Bulldogs with a .500 batting
average this season.
Scouting the
competition: Lipscomb
Lipscomb enters the weekend tournament with a 3-6 record
having last seen the field on Feb. 20 where they recorded a 4-2 win against
Georgia State in the Georgia State Tournament.
The Lady Bison's are coming off their most successful season
in program history finishing 50-13 and advanced to the NCAA regional before
losing in the finals to Alabama. The Lady Bison also won the A-Sun regular
season and tournament titles with a 22-3 conference record.
Scouting the competition:
Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois enters the weekend with a 2-2 record on the season having last played
Feb. 13 in the UL-Monroe Tournament where they defeated the Sycamores 2-0 and
UL-Monroe 1-0.
Last season the Panthers finished with a record of 24-27
overall and 12-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference en route to a 4th place
finish in the league play. So far this season, freshman pitcher/outfielder
Reynae Hutchinson leads at the plate in batting average with a .625 average and
has recorded five hits.
Coldren signs 2
Head coach Brenda Coldren announced in the offseason that
two new student athletes have signed a National Letter of Intent to join the
Sycamores for the 2011-12 season: Megan Stone and Natalie Capone.
Stone, a three-sport athlete at North Central, comes to ISU
owning two softball records with her senior season still left to play. Stone
currently holds the single season home run record with six and also holds the
career home run record with 11.
Capone, a two sport athlete at St. Charles North, comes to
Indiana State as a four year letter winner in Softball and also played varsity
basketball. During her prep career Capone earned multiple awards for her
efforts including All-Conference in 2009 and 2010, All-Academic Upstate Eight
in 2009 and 2010.
Up next for ISU:
The Sycamores will next play March 6-11 when they travel to
Orlando, Fla. For the Rebel Games. The Sycamores will play 10 games over five
days before returning home for their home opener on March 17.
