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TABLE OF CONTENTS QUICK FACTS ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS Table of Contents/Quick Facts .......2 General Information Softball Contact: .....Mary Lee Gibson ISU Softball By the Numbers ...........3 Location: .............................Normal, Ill Office: ..................... 309-438-5746 Tradition of Excellence ................. 4-5 University Founded: ...................1857 Email: ................ [email protected] Marian Kneer Stadium ................. 6-7 Enrollment: ............................. 21,039 Fax: ........................ 309-438-5634 International Travel .................................8 Website: ................... GoRedbirds.com Hit Club & Hall of Fame Nickname: .............................Redbirds ......................9 Mailing Address: ................................. All-time Letterwinners ...............10-11 Colors: ......... Red (PMS 186) & White 202B Horton Fieldhouse All-time Awards & Honors ........12-14 Affiliation: ................. NCAA Division I Hitting Records ..........................15-16 Conference: ............... Missouri Valley Campus Box 7130 Pitching Records ..............................17 President: .................... Dr. Larry Dietz Normal, IL 61790 Fielding Records ............................. 18 Director of Athletics: .......Larry Lyons Asst. AD/Comm.: .........Mike Williams Marian Kneer Records ................... 19 Faculty Representative: ....Dr. Jeri Beggs Email: [email protected] Year-by-Year Results ..................20-28 Team Information GoRedbirds.com All-time Opponents ....................29-38 2017 Record: ............................ 33-24 The latest, official information on 2017 2017 MVC Record (finish): .20-6(t-1st) Illinois State softball is available at Home Record: ..............................12-8 GoRedbirds.com. Log on for complete Away Record: ...............................11-8 media services, including statistics, Neutral Site Record: ...................10-8 rosters, bios, schedules, quotes and Starters Returning/Lost: ........... 7/2 more. Facility: Marian Kneer Stadium (1,050) Social Media Program History To stay up-to-date with Redbird softball First Season: .............................. 1965 during the year, make sure to follow ISU All-Time Record: .............1,377-916-6 (.601) Athletics on Facebook and on Twitter All-Time DI Record: .......1,083-779-4 (.582) via @RedbirdsSB and @ISURedbirds. All-Time Conference Record: .....499-214-2 In addition, feature videos, post-game (.700) interviews and game highlights will MVC Regular-Season Titles: ......... 13 be posted on Illinois State’s official MVC Tournament Titles: ...................6 YouTube page. ISU softball can be NCAA Tournament Appearances: ....9 found on Facebook at “Illinois State (`88, `95, `00, `01, `06, `07, `10, `11, `12) Redbirds Softball” and ISU is on MVC Players of the Year: .............. 11 Instagram and SnapChat @isuredbirds. Coaching Staff Head Coach: ............ Melinda Fischer .................................. (Illinois State ‘72) Season: ........................................ 33rd Record at ISU: 1,012-728-4 (32 Years) Career Record: ...1,053-752-4 (34 Years) Assoc. Head Coach: .......Tina Kramos ...............................(Missouri State ‘95) Season: .........................................18th Asst. Coach: ................ Tara Archibald ............................(Southern Illinois ‘04) Season: ............................................1st Softball Office: ........... 309-438-3633 Softball Fax: ................309-438-3597 2018 Redbird Softball 2 BY THE NUMBERS NCAA Division I wins, which ranks in the top Career wins by head 25 all-time among all coach Melinda Fischer, 1,083 1,053 which ranks 18th all-time Division I softball programs among Division I coaches Illinois State Athletics All-Missouri Valley Percy Family Hall of Fame 98 Conference First-Team 55 inductees from ISU selections softball Missouri Valley All-America selections 29 13 Conference regular- season championships Missouri Valley NCAA Tournament Conference Player/ 9 appearances 11 Pitcher of the Year selections Missouri Valley AIAW Women’s College Conference Tournament 7 World Series appearances 6 titles 2018 Redbird Softball 3 TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE MARIAN KNEER The name Marian Kneer has been synonymous with Illinois State softball far before the stadium was renamed in her honor during the 2009 season. Kneer was a pioneer for women’s athletics, spearheading the efforts for women’s sports inclusion in the Illinois High School Association, two years prior to the passage of the Title IX Education Amendment (1972). A four-sport Redbird athlete from 1945-49, Kneer was inducted into the ISU Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame in 1976 and became a member of the College of Education Hall of Fame in 2004. She is also a member of the Greater Peoria and National Association for Sport and Physical Education Halls of Fame. Born in Peoria, Illinois, she went on to earn her doctorate in physical education from Michi- gan and was labeled “the world’s greatest softball catcher” in the late 1950s. Kneer is a member of the Illinois Softball Hall of Fame and the Illinois Coaches Association for Girls and Women Hall of Fame. AN ERA OF DOMINANCE Illinois State Athletics has always been at the forefront of promoting women’s athletic opportunities, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, when the movement to bring women’s college athletics up to speed with men’s intercollegiate athletic programs was at its zenith. Three visionary women, Carmen Imel, Dr. Laurie Mabry and Dr. Jill Hutchison, who would later go on to coach the Redbird women’s basketball team for 28 years, brought national attention to ISU women’s athletics and Redbird softball in the early years of women’s athletics at Illinois State. Softball has been a part of Illinois State dating back to the 1930s and has been recognized as an intercollegiate sport at ISU since 1965. Since then, the program has amassed well over 1,000 wins, made seven Women’s College World Series appearances, won 12 regular-season conference championships and six conference tournament titles. Redbird softball helped to set a standard for athletic excellence at Illinois State that continues to this day. ISU made appearances in the AIAW Women’s College World Series seven times from 1969-1981, finishing second in `69 and `73, with the former featuring current head coach Melinda Fischer as a player. The teams’ appearances in the WCWS set in motion an era of softball dominance that has existed at Illinois State ever since. MARGIE WRIGHT The majority of Margie Wright’s 1,457-career coaching victories, the most in college softball history, came during her 27- season tenure at Fresno State. It was her time at Illinois State, however, both as a player and a coach, that molded her into the coach she would become. Wright came to Illinois State from her hometown of Warrensburg, Illinois. She accrued four letters in both basketball and softball, as well as three in field hockey. As ISU’s star pitcher, Wright led the Redbirds to a second-place finish in the 1973 AIAW Women’s College World Series. She was inducted into the ISU Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame in 1979. After coaching softball at Metamora High School and Eastern Illinois, Wright returned to coach her alma mater in 1980. In six seasons at the helm of ISU, Wright’s Redbirds compiled a 163-92-2 record, inclduing a trip to the 1981 AIAW Women’s College World Series and three-straight state titles from 1980-82. From there, Wright would continue one of the most decorated coaching careers in college softball at Fresno State, where she won the 1998 national championship and led the Bulldogs to 10 WCWS berths. 2018 Redbird Softball 4 TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE BILL KENNEDY ALL-AMERICANS Bill Kennedy helped to lay the foundation that has led to the Jodi Burch - P • 1995 NFCA Third Team success of the Illinois State softball program, serving as a Bridget Fournie - OF coach from 1986 to 2009. • 1999 National Softball Coaches Association Corey Harris - UT Kennedy mentored four • 2002 Academic Second Team All-Americans, five NFCA All- Region First- or Second-Team Emily Krueger - 1B selections, three MVC Players • 2004 Easton Third Team of the Year, one Valley Rookie Nicole Kurth - P of the Year and 21 All-Valley • 2001 Easton Second Team First or Second Team honorees. He was a member of the Illinois State coaching staff Becky McMurtry - 3B in 2006 that earned MVC Coaching Staff of the Year and NFCA/ • 2001 Easton First Team • 2001 NFCA Third Team Speedline Coaching Staff of the Year recognition. Kara Nelson - 2B/3B • 2007 Easton First Team • 2010 NFCA Third Team • 2007 NFCA Second Team Under Kennedy’s direction, Redbird pitchers from 2000-08 • 2011 Easton Second Team posted a combined 2.03 ERA. ISU’s team ERA of 1.42 in 2003 Shannon Nicholson - P was the team’s lowest since the 1987 season and Illinois State • 2007 Easton Second Team pitchers set a total of 11 season records under Kennedy. Abby Olson - 3B • 2010 NFCA Third Team THE DYNAMIC DUO Kara Nelson and Abby Olson spent four seasons together in a Cathy Peverly - SS • 2000 Academic Second Team Redbird uniform and combined to break nearly every offensive record at Illinois State and in the Valley. The duo became the Audra Rast - P first set of ISU teammates to earn NFCA All-America honors in • 2002 Easton Third Team the same season in 2010 and led the Redbirds to their first April Schermann - 2B Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title since 2006, in • 2001 Easton