Softball kicks off fall season with Illinois State Tournament
09/08/2006 | 12:00:00 | Softball
Sept. 8, 2006
By Matt Crouch
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University softball team kicks off its 2006 fall season this weekend with the Illinois State Tournament.
Hosted by Illinois State University, the Salukis will play four games over the weekend. Play begins Friday, Sept. 9 with a 10 a.m. matchup against Bradley. SIU will then face St. Xavier at 4:45 p.m.
Play continues Sunday, Sept. 10 with Illinois Central College at 10 a.m. and Western Illinois at 12:15 p.m.
"With the fall tournaments, we want to get a look at all of the kids," said SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock. "We will try multiple lineups in both position and batting order to gauge what kind of team we have."
Southern Illinois began practice with the start of school this fall in preparation for the next three weeks of tournaments.
"Practice has been going good. We've had several injuries, which has allowed us to be very versatile with our lineup," said Blaylock.
The Salukis played in the Illinois State tournament last fall, posting a 4-1 record. SIU beat Parkland College (8-0), SIU-Edwardsville (6-5), Illinois Central College (13-2) and Western Illinois (5-3) before losing to host Illinois State (7-3).
The loss to Illinois State was the lone loss for the Salukis during the fall season.
Blaylock believes that this year's tournament should be just as competitive, especially with the presence of Division I teams on the schedule.
"I like the field. What we have tried to do is get more D I teams in these tournaments," said Blaylock. "We have two this weekend, which should give a truer test as to where we are at."
SIU is coming off a 35-13 record in the 2006 season and its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.