WICHITA, Kan. – Hot off a midweek win at Fort Wayne, the Sycamore Softball team heads west for one final regular-season Valley showdown with Wichita State on Friday (doubleheader, 4:00 & 6:30 p.m. ET) and Saturday (noon ET). Fans can watch all three games live on
The Valley on ESPN3.
LAST TIME OUT
Indiana State is coming off an 11-hit win at Fort Wayne on Wednesday, topping the Mastodons 8-2. Three Sycamores had multi-hit games –
Rylee Holland (3-3, RBI),
Mary Turitto (2-3, 2B, RBI) and
Gabi Carter (2-4) – with Turitto and
Shaye Barton (1-2) both smacking doubles. In the circle,
Kylie Stober (5.0 IP) and
Della Gher (2.0 IP) combined to hold Fort Wayne to just five hits and one earned run.
SCOUTING THE SHOCKERS
Wichita State holds the Valley's best overall record at 23-14 and second in Valley play with an 8-4 record. The Shockers are very productive at the plate, currently holding a sizeable +64 run differential and 35 team home runs -- 35th nationally.
SERIES HISTORY
Wichita State owns a 56-34 advantage in the all-time series vs. the Sycamores.
LATE CONSISTENCY
The Sycamore pitching staff has done an incredible job shutting the door on opponents, making Indiana State 11-0 when leading in both the sixth and seventh innings. Furthermore, only two teams have been able to claw back when ISU has led after the fourth inning, opposed to seven Sycamore wins.
TURITTO TO THE RESCUE
Senior
Mary Turitto only had two hits this past weekend against Missouri State, but they were both monumental in ISU's comeback for the walk-off 3-2 victory on Sunday. Turitto led off the sixth with a solo home run on a 1-2 count, her second of the season and sixth of her career, to give the Sycamores some momentum to hold Missouri State in the top of the seventh. Tied 2-2 in the bottom half, it was Turitto coming through in the clutch again, sailing a long double off the left field wall for the game-winning walk-off hit – her second this Valley season after a game-winning RBI sac fly against UNI two weeks ago.
She followed that performance up with a 2-for-3 outing at Fort Wayne, which included an RBI double
SHE'S GOING THE DISTANCE
Junior
Kenzie Ihle has shown incredible resilience in her first season at Indiana State, throwing eight complete games and ranking sixth in the Valley with 135.2 innings pitched – with three complete games tossed just this past week. In 21.0 innings this past week, she had a 2.00 ERA, bringing her season ERA down to 3.66. She fanned 18 batters, including 13 along in two games against Missouri State, while holding batters to a .265 average. Her 84 punchouts this season ranks sixth in the Valley, and her 33 in MVC play ranks fourth. And, after a rough start in the strikeout/walk ratio department, she has clawed her way back to a positive ratio with her 84 strikeouts against 83 walks.
TOUGH OUT
Senior
Erika Crissman is no pushover, as her stat line this season can attest. The Los Alamitos, Calif., native has only struck out three times in 118 at-bats all season, currently registering as the 20th-strikeout in Division I this season.
LESS-LIE IS MORE
Freshman
Leslie Sims has started her Sycamore career off with a bang as ISU's batting average leader. Sims leads Indiana State and ranks fourth in the Valley with a .420 average. Sims is primarily a speed demon on the base paths, using her legs for bunt singles and 16 stolen bases on the season -- second-most in the Valley this year. Sims also owns an inside-the-park grand slam vs. Wright State. She is one of four Valley players to be batting over .400 this year. Meanwhile, her .500 on-base percentage ranks second in the Valley.
SUPER STOBER
Junior
Kylie Stober may have a 2-9 record in the circle, but she has been a far more productive pitcher than her record suggests. Stober holds a 4.48 ERA on the season, but she has thrown five complete games this season – including a week-stretch where she recorded a 3.05 ERA and tossed an eight-inning, two-hit loss to Ball State with seven hitless innings. Her first start vs. Drake began the same way with three perfect, extending her hitless streak to 10.0 IP before Drake broke the game open. Stober has gone at least 5.0 innings in six of her last seven starts, as well as seven of her last nine.
Stober has also started making plate appearances for the Sycamores, currently batting .500 with five hits in 10 at-bats, including a key one late in ISU's walk-off win vs. Missouri State.
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE, DOUBLE THE FUN
The Sycamore defense knows how to turn a double play with 22 on the season, ninth-most in the NCAA this season. ISU had five in one weekend alone against Drake, including two games with two double-plays. Indiana State went the entire weekend without committing an error, a streak that eventually reached 28.0 innings before committing one late against IUPUI.
PRODUCING WHEN IT COUNTS
ISU has been in so many close games late and extra innings contests because the offense has refused to back down in the later innings. The Sycamores have outscored opponents 56-37 in the sixth and seventh innings combined this season and have been able to scrape together seven wins when trailing in the fifth inning or later. In addition, the Sycamores have won on walk-off hits three times in the last month, with two walk-offs vs. UNI and one in the finale against Missouri State this past week.
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.
