Blaine Kinsey

GoSycamores.com

TERRE HAUTE, Ind.—After their first rainout of the season on Wednesday, the Indiana State softball team is set to continue its Iowa roadswing with a three-game series in Cedar Falls against Northern Iowa beginning on Saturday. The Sycamores enter the weekend with a 7-24 overall record and 1-5 in Missouri Valley Conference play while the Panthers enter the series with a 24-9 overall record and 4-2 in league play. The Sycamores have been led so far this season, offensively, by junior Brooke Riemenschneider who is hitting .351 with seven doubles while senior Alexa Cavin is also hitting over .300 for the Sycamores at .321. As a team, the Sycamores also rank in the top 10 nationally in double plays turned as they now have 18 on the season, including 10 ground ball double plays while only hitting into seven offensviely. Live stats for all three games of the series along with full box scores and recaps will be available online at GoSycamores.com.

Last Time Out

The Indiana State Softball team last saw the field on Wednesday, Mar. 30 when they fell in the first game of a scheduled doubleheader 3-2 against Iowa State, allowing just one earned run. The Sycamores jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after the first half inning before the Cyclones answered with two unearned runs in the bottom of the first. The Cylclones went on to defeat the Sycamores 3-2 in game one before Indiana State took a 7-1 lead in game two in the top of the fifth inning. Rain and lightning then hit the area, forcing the cancellation of game two, just one half inning away from being called official. Freshman Monique Castillo hit a two RBI double to drive in the Sycamores two runs in game one. Sophomore pitcher Bailey Benefiel also pitched a complete game, allowing just five hits and one earned run.

A Little History -- Northern Iowa

The Sycamores and Panthers have previously met 88 times with the Panthers holding the 60-28 all-time series advantage over the Sycamores. The first meeting between the two teams came during the 1983 season when the Sycamores defeated the Panthers 3-2. Last season, the two teams met four times with each team winning two games. The Sycamores won the first 7-1 before falling 4-3 and 9-1 in the next two. The Sycamores then won the final game, 8-5 in Cedar Falls.

Scouting The Panthers

Northern Iowa enters the weekend series with a 24-9 overall record and 4-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference, having last seen the field on Saturday in 2-1 a series win on the road over Evansville. The Panthers have been led this season by Alyssa Buchanan who is hitting .411 with 19 driven in and is one of five players hitting over .300. As a team, the Panthers hold a .294 batting average. In the cirlce, Chelsea Ross leads the pitching staff with a 2.02 ERA and 11-4 record over 110.2 innings pitched with 110 strikeouts. As a pitching staff, Northern Iowa holds a 2.48 ERA.

Turning Two

Now 31 games into the 2016 season, the Sycamores have been outstanding at turing double plays, recording 18, more than twice the number of Indiana State opponents. Nationally, the Sycamores rank in the top 10 in NCAA Division 1 in double plays per game. The team's 18 double plays also leads the Missouri Valley Conference and is just six away from the school record of 24. The team has also turned 10 ground ball double plays on the season while only grounding into one double play offensively.

Remy Leads The Offense

Junior Brooke Riemenschneider has led the Sycamores offensively throughout the first half of the 2016 season and after 31 games, ranks 14th in the Missouri Valley Conference in batting average at .351. Riemenschneider leads the team with seven doubles which is just one away from her total of eight during the 2015 season. The junior is also second on the team in hits and leads the team in on base percentage at .424.

Hitting The Three-Baggers

Now halfway through the 2016 season, junior Erika Crissman remains atop the Missouri Valley Conference in triples. The junior has three triples on the season and six in her career. Crissman hit three triples during her freshman season and now three as a junior. As a team, the Sycamores lead the MVC in triples with six.

Free Passes

Now in her senior season, senior Alexa Cavin is moving up the Indiana State career walks list as the senior now ranks third all-time at ISU in the category. Cavin has 55 career walks, just three away from second place. ISU assistant coach Megan Stone holds the record in that category with 69, set last season.

Advancing Runners

After setting the Indiana State record for sacrifices last season, the Indiana State softball team again leads the Missouri Valley Conference in that category in 2016. The Sycamores currently have 32 sacrifice bunts and five sacrifice flies. The Sycamores have also advanced runners at a .464 percentage with freshman Bailey Martin leading the way in that category at 19 for 30 (.633). With runners on third and less than two outs, the Sycamores record RBI's 47% of the time.

Career First

After not having any home runs as a team through the first two weekends, freshman Monqiue Castillo crushed her first career home run to left center against Troy on Mar. 5. Not only was it her first career home run, it also was her first career Grand Slam as the bases were loaded. Later in the game, freshman Shaye Barton also added her first career home run to straight away center field. 

Leading Things Off

Senior Kelsey Montgomery has found her groove as the Sycamores leadoff batter as she currently holds a .500 batting average in inning leadoff situations. In the 15 games Montgomery has batted in the leadoff roll, she has recorded seven leadoff hits and reached base nine of 15 times for a .600 on base percentage. Out of those nine occasions she has reached base, Montgomery has come around to score five times. The senior is also tied for the team lead in runs scored with 18.

Lockwood Senior CLASS Finalist

Senior pitcher Taylor Lockwood was named one of the 30 finalists for the 2016 Senior CLASS award. Lockwood was nominated for the award because of her excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community. A national media committee will select ten finalists for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award in March.  Those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote.

Player of the Year To Assistant Coach

Megan Stone gained recognition for her record shattering senior season when she was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, prior to the start of the 2015 MVC Tournament. It marked the first outright winner for the Sycamores in school history. Stone shattered 16 combined single season and career records at Indiana State. Following the conclusion of her senior season, Stone began her coaching career and is now an Assistant Coach for the Sycamores.

Upsetting The League

Not only did the Sycamores win their first ever Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Title, the team also became the lowest seed to ever win the tournament. The Sycamores entered the weekend as the eight seed with a 13-13 record in league play before defeating #5 Southern Illinois, #4 Wichita State, #1 Drake and #2 Missouri State to win the title. 

Historical Wins

With an 8-5 win in the 2015 regular season finale against Nothern Iowa, the Indiana State softball team broke the school record for Missouri Valley Conference wins in a season with 13. They also became the first team in school history to defeat every conference opponent at least once in the same season.

1.    2015 (13-13)

2.    2006 (12-15)

3.    1986 (11-6)*

4.    1989 (10-5)*

       2009 (10-15)

 6.  1984 (9-6)*

       2014 (9-17)

* prior to 3-game series

Sycamore Softball Online

Every home game along with the majority of road cames can also be heard world wide free of chardge online at GoSycamores.com and home games and select road games will offer a free webcast. However, you can also follow the Sycamores on Facebook (Facebook.com/SycamoreSoftball), on Twitter (@IndStSoftball), on SnapChat (sycamore-sb) and new for 2016, Instagram (@IndStSoftball). 

On To The Next One

Following the weekend series against Northern Iowa, the Indiana State softball team will take a break from midweek games before continuing their seven-game road trip with a three-game series in Normal, Illinois against Illinois State on April 9-10. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday before playing the finale of the three game series on Sunday with action slated to begin both days at 1 p.m. EDT at Marian Kneer Stadium. Live Stats for all three games will be available online while the first two games of the series will be seen world wide on ESPN3.