SB Hosts 1st Place Creighton

[SycEm]

Softball welcomes 1st place Creighton to Price Field for a three game series this weekend. Creighton comes in at 21-9 and 9-1 in the MVC. The two teams met to open the season, with the Sycamores winning 4-3. Sycamores are coming off a DH sweep of IUPUI on Wednesday in Terre Haute.

This will also be a sibling rivalry, as Creighton head coach Brent Vigness is the older brother of ISU head coach Brenda Coldren. Creighton has dominated this series over the years - as the Sycamores are 6-36 all-time against the Bluejays - but the Sycamores are 4-5 against the Jays over the last three seasons - with Creighton going to the NCAA tourney in each of those seasons.

DH scheduled for today at 2pm (weather permitting) and a single game tomorrow at 12 noon.

 

[ISUCC]

ISU loses 2 more, SycEm, I get the impression this might be the softball coach's final season, they sure haven't made any improvements the past few seasons, and looking at the roster, they lose alot of their best players, what do you think? Is this it?

 

[SycEm]

Hard to say - on one hand we haven't won as much as anyone would like. On the other, she's putting the best teams we had on the field in at least 20+ years. Makes you wonder if it is the coach or the institution sometimes?

 

[SycEm]

I called a couple of high school coaches around Indiana and some ASA coaches around the MidWest and they all seem to say that Coldren has done a great job at ISU. To a person, they all agree that ISU was one of the worst programs in the country when she started - none of them wanted to send kids here to play softball. Their opinion is completely the reverse of that now - they seem to say she knows the game, is straight forward with the kids, etc. The roster is now full of kids from Indiana that make all the "All Star" teams, or from well respected Mid West ASA programs, etc.
Now - none of their opinions matter - just RP - and his track record at ISU would make me guess that she is probably out of time.

 

[ISUCC]

how many years has she been at ISU, and how many times have they made the post season MVC tourney under her tenure? I have no idea as I don't follow as close as you do SycEm.

I called a couple of high school coaches around Indiana and some ASA coaches around the MidWest and they all seem to say that Coldren has done a great job at ISU. To a person, they all agree that ISU was one of the worst programs in the country when she started - none of them wanted to send kids here to play softball. Their opinion is completely the reverse of that now - they seem to say she knows the game, is straight forward with the kids, etc. The roster is now full of kids from Indiana that make all the "All Star" teams, or from well respected Mid West ASA programs, etc.
Now - none of their opinions matter - just RP - and his track record at ISU would make me guess that she is probably out of time.

 

[ISUCC]

good to see ISU win game 3 (1-0) and avoid the sweep at home. They wind up splitting the series with Creighton 2-2 this season. ISU had won over CU in Texas earlier in the season.

 

[SycEm]

how many years has she been at ISU, and how many times have they made the post season MVC tourney under her tenure? I have no idea as I don't follow as close as you do SycEm.

This is year seven. In the six previous seasons, they did not qualify for the tourney her first three seasons. Since then, they have qualified the last three seasons. In fact, these last three seasons are the first three consecutive seasons that an Indiana State softball squad has not finished in 9th place or worse in the MVC since something like mid to late 1980s - before this stretch we never went three seasons without finishing 9th or worse for the last 20 years.

 

[SycEm]

how many years has she been at ISU, and how many times have they made the post season MVC tourney under her tenure? I have no idea as I don't follow as close as you do SycEm.

I decided to look at a Media Guide and see how her teams stack up historically. In her six seasons to date, her team has finished in the top 10 in the all time of the program as follows:
Victories - 3 times (4th, 6th, and 9th)
Assists - 1 time (10th)
Runs Scored - 2 times (3rd and 6th)
Doubles - 5 times (1st, 2nd, 4th (tied twice), 8th)
Walks - 2 times (1st and 3rd)
ERA - 2 times (1st and 10th)
Pitching Strikeouts - 6 times (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 8th)
Slugging Percentage - 5 times (2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th)
Home Runs - 5 times (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th)
Hits - 3 times (3rd, 9th, and 10th)
RBIs - 4 times (2nd, 4th, 6th, and 9th)

On the individual player marks - she has people in virtually every statistical category since she has been here.

I think it is like any of our sports - if the administration attempts to fund it at a level competitive with the conference - they would do fine. Recruiting is very difficult with our "tradition", facilities, and operating budgets. We play the fewest game of any team in the MVC every year due to budget. Compound that by the fact that we travel to the least "exotic" locales of any team in our league for the same reason. They typically bus to three tournaments in the pre-season (with a flight every couple of years). On the other end of the spectrum - Illinois State flies to five tournaments - covering both coasts - in the pre-season and plays in a stadium on their campus - and they aren't alone in that regard in the MVC. Which would you select if you were an 18 year old kid?

I think she is doing more with less than any of her counterparts in softball in the MVC. As I've said on other posts - the league is very good - having sent three teams to regionals every year since the field expanded to 64 with the exception being last year when only two got bids.