By ISU Sports Information
TAMPA, Fla. – The Illinois State softball team led No. 25 South Florida, up until the final pitch of the game when the Bulls’ Bethany Keen sent a two-run homer to left, finalizing the score at 5-4.
A pair of 3-for-4 outings by both Shannon Felde and Alyssa Wiebel highlighted the Redbirds’ offense on the opening day of the 2017 season at the USF Wilson DeMarini Tournament in Tampa, Florida.
“Despite the loss, we made adjustments throughout the game, learning from each opportunity on the field,” head coach Melinda Fischer said. “We were able to do that tonight on offense and on defense. Now we just need to finish.”
Illinois State outhit USF, 10-8 in the contest. In addition to Felde and Wiebel, four Redbirds picked up hits to balance ISU’s resilient offense.
“Shannon [Felde] really stepped up tonight in the leadoff spot,” Fischer said. “That’s a new position for her, but she had great contact and production tonight. Alyssa [Wiebel] is a hitter. She had some great cuts tonight for great offensive production.”
The Redbirds and Bulls got off to a slow start as both teams were held scoreless in the first two frames.
In her first collegiate at-bat, Wiebel singled through the left side. Abby Turczyn followed up with a walk to put runners in scoring position, but Illinois State could not convert in the second inning.
However, the Redbirds momentum continued into the third frame with a leadoff single from Kori Mesecher. Felde put down a bunt before USF intentionally walked Riley Strandgard. Jordan de los Reyes capitalized on the bases-loaded jam with a two-RBI single up the middle. Wiebel’s bat stayed hot, driving in ISU’s final run of the inning.
Mirroring the fourth, Felde knocked a leadoff hit up the middle before Allison Spence tapped the Redbirds’ seventh hit of the night to left.
Defensively, Sarah Finck doled out her second strikeout to begin fifth frame. Wiebel snagged the final out of the inning, but not before USF’s Juli Weber put the Bulls on the board with a single.
Wiebel continued her standout night with a third single to lead off the sixth inning. Riley Hale tacked on another hit for ISU before Felde sent the ball to the left-center fence, scoring Stephanie Thulen.
The Bulls responded in the sixth, scoring a pair of unearned runs off the bats of Mia Fung and Astin Donovan. USF finalized the score with a two-RBI home run in the seventh.
Finck tossed a completed game in 6.1 innings of work with a pair of strikeouts. Susan Wysocki picked up the win for USF after 1.0 innings.
“The past three years, our games against USF have always been like this,” Fischer said. “It was a great ball game all the way around. Coming out and playing the way that we did, I’m very proud of that. We executed some great plays offensively and we had some tremendous plays defensively. We just have to find a way to finish it off.”
The Redbirds return to action on Friday at 1 p.m. vs. No. 6 Michigan and No. 4 Florida at 3:15 p.m.
