BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Sycamore Softball returns to the tournament slate after a week off at the WKU Hilltopper Spring Fling, hosted by Western Kentucky this Friday and Saturday.
The Sycamores, who are 2-3 overall after a solid showing at UNLV's Sportco Kick Off Classic on Feb. 10-12, will play in their second of four non-conference tournaments to open the 2017 season. This weekend, Indiana State will open on Friday (Feb. 24) vs. IUPUI (1 p.m. ET) and Western Kentucky (4 p.m. ET), before closing on Saturday (Feb. 25) vs. Wright State (10:30 a.m. ET) and Austin Peay (6:30 p.m. ET).
At UNLV, the Sycamores impressed with two big wins over UNLV (11-5) and CSU Bakersfield (11-4) and tight one-run losses to Virginia Tech (4-3) and Louisville (6-5, nine innings; 1-0).
The Sycamores had a balanced approach throughout the weekend in Las Vegas, with two offensive explosions in the two wins and a solid weekend of pitching throughout. At the plate, Indiana State hit .257 in those five games but had great outings by
Kassie Brown,
Becky Malchow and
Brooke Mann.
Brown currently leads ISU with a .462 batting average in the nine-spot of the lineup as the Sycamores' slap/bunt hitter. Malchow, a true freshman, exploded for a .375 average a .438 slugging percentage with six hits, one double and four RBI. ISU's biggest bat was courtesy of sophomore catcher and Wisconsin transfer
Brooke Mann, who slugged .643 with two doubles and a three-run home run to lead ISU with five RBI.
In the circle, the Sycamores escaped the weekend with a 3.68 ERA courtesy of two long weekends by transfers
Kenzie Ihle and
Kylie Stober. Ihle currently has a 3.78 ERA in 16.2 innings of work with six strikeouts and one save to counter her 1-1 record. Stober, meanwhile, leads ISU with a 2.33 ERA in 19.1 innings.
First pitch against IUPUI on Friday is set for 1 p.m. ET.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Softball team, make sure to check out
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including
Facebook and
Twitter.
