ST. LOUIS – Indiana State will hit the road for its final non-conference midweek series of the season at Saint Louis on Tuesday evening. The Sycamores and Billikens will square off at 5 and 7 p.m. ET.
LAST TIME OUT
Rain ended the series against Southern Illinois early, but the Sycamores were still able to take a Game One victory over the Salukis at 2-1 on Senior Day. Southern went on to win a 9-1 run-rule in Game Two before Game Three was washed out on Saturday.
SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS
Saint Louis stands at 21-22 overall on the season and 10-10 in Atlantic 10 play. The Billikens boast a potent offense at a plus-40 run differential on the season and a team slugging percentage of .423. Leading the way at the plate is Allie MacFarlane with a .368 average, 45 RBI and a .640 slugging percentage with 11 doubles, eight home runs and one triple.
SERIES HISTORY
Indiana State holds a 10-5-1 advantage in the all-time series against the Billikens.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS
In order to make the MVC Tournament this season, the Sycamores will need to sweep Bradley in the final weekend series of the season while also hoping that Loyola is able to sweep Drake in Chicago. The Bulldogs hold the tiebreaker over Indiana State after a series sweep on April 1-2, but the ninth-place Sycamores (6-17) are only two games back of eighth-place Drake (8-15). If the pieces fall into place this weekend, it will be just the third time since 2007 that Indiana State will have made the Valley Tournament. The Sycamores won the 2015 MVC Tournament as the eight seed.
DELLA DELLA GHER, Y'ALL
Freshman
Della Gher was up to her old tricks again, shutting the door on the Salukis with 1.2 hitless innings pitched for her fifth save of the season. Gher had already broken the single-season saves record at Indiana State following four saves in a span of a week down in Florida in March. Gher, a freshman native of Paris, Ill., who should still technically be in high school after graduating early from Paris High School in December, leads the Valley in saves and ranks fifth nationally.
FLASHING THE LEATHER
The Sycamore defense has been consistently solid this season, recently going on a 33.2 inning streak without an error that was snapped in the fifth inning of Game Two vs. SIU. This is the second such streak of at least 25 innings this season as the Sycamores also went 28.0 innings without one across three games at Drake and six innings without one at IUPUI in April. Indiana State currently ranks third in the Valley in fielding percentage at .964, and still leads the Valley (and ranks tied for 17th nationally) in double plays turned with 24 -- which ties a school record. In MVC play, the Sycamores rank second with a .975 fielding clip. Senior shortstop and Preseason All-MVC honoree
Kassie Brown is a big part of that, ranking tied for seventh overall in the MVC with 98 assists.
CLIMBING THE CAREER RANKS
As the season draws to a close, several Sycamores are moving up in the all-time career top-10 categories:
#13 Kassie Brown, Sr., SS
3rd, Career Sac Bunts - 44
4th, Career Runs - 97
6th, Career Stolen Bases - 36
T-6th, Games Played - 199
7th, Games Started - 193
10th, Career Hits - 159
10th, Career Batting Average - .324
#8 Erika Crissman, Sr., OF
2nd, Career RBI - 100
5th, Career Triples - 9
6th, Career Fielding - .988
T-6th, Career Hits - 175
7th, Career Runs - 85
T-7th, Career Walks - 50
T-10th, Career Stolen Bases - 33
#5 Della Gher, Fr., P
T-2nd, Career Saves - 5
#3 Rylee Holland, Sr., OF
5th, Career HBP - 19
5th, Career Runs - 90
5th, Career Sac Bunts - 40
#23 Brooke Riemenschneider, Sr., C
2nd, Career Walks - 59
8th, Career RBI - 75
T-9th, Career Home Runs - 8
CLIMBING THE SEASON RANKS
Several Sycamores have already started to climb the single-season lists as well.
#5 Della Gher, Fr., P
1st, Saves - 5
#18 Kenzie Ihle, Jr., P
6th, Wins - 15
#12 Brooke Mann, So., C
T-8th, Home Runs - 6
T-6th, RBI - 31
#20 Leslie Sims, Fr., 2B
T-5th, Stolen Bases - 19
6th, Batting Average - .387
7th, On-Base - .453
#17 Mary Turitto, Sr., 1B
T-4th, Double Plays - 14
DOMINANT IHLE
Junior
Kenzie Ihle had a superb weekend series against Evansville on April 22-23, blanking the Purple Aces 1-0 in the series opener and nearly throwing a no-hitter in a Game Three loss. In Game One, Ihle was dominant with a 12-strikeout performance – a career-high at ISU and the most by a Sycamore pitcher since March 7, 2012 (Lindsey Beisser, 12, vs. Sacred Heart). In that first game, Ihle yielded just four hits and only allowed one baserunner to reach third base all day (with two outs in the bottom of the seventh) and had four innings with multiple punchouts (including two innings where she struck out the side). In the series finale, Ihle was literally unhittable for five complete innings, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning in a similarly dominating performance. The Purple Aces ended up rallying in the sixth, but Ihle still struck out eight – pushing her weekend total to 20 strikeouts. In 12.2 innings pitched against Evansville, she allowed just six hits (including only two in the finale). With 15 wins this season, she ranks sixth on the single-season all-time list at Indiana State. Her 117 punchouts this season also ranks tied for fourth overall in the conference.
Ihle was one of the best JUCO pitchers in the nation at Des Moines Area Community College the last two seasons, leading the NJCAA in strikeouts per game (10.1) in 2016 and setting a new DMACC school record for wins with a 31-3 record in two seasons.
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE, DOUBLE THE FUN
The Sycamore defense knows how to turn a double play with 24 on the season, 17th-most in the NCAA this season and currently tied for the team school record set in 2015. 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.
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
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