Kyle MeansDaily Egyptian
Bad weather has done its best to ruin the early season for SIU softball.
This season, SIU has found itself less able to handle the weather than it has its opponents, which has forced one Saluki to decide that no weather news is good weather news.
"I'm really freaked out on the fact that everywhere we go it rains so I'm not looking at any weather reports," senior Katie Louis said.
Louis would do well not to check any local predictions because for Sunday, forecasters are calling for a slight chance of rain, and that could be enough to spook the Salukis, which have seen eight of their first 16 games cancelled.
A Sunday cancellation could mean far worse for this season as it would wash away the last two games of the Kay Brechtelsbauer Southern Classic, the traditional home opening weekend for softball.
"There's extra incentive playing at home in front of our home crowd and getting back to some normalcy," Louis said. "Being able to show the community what we've accomplished this year and kind of showcase what we have to offer."
The Southern Classic, which is named after the program's first and only coach besides Kerri Blaylock, has become a yearly chance to honor Brechtelsbauer, who won 633 games during a 32-year run.
SIU's overall dominance at Charlotte West Stadium, which is revealed by the team's 49-10 record during the stadium's first three years, has been illustrated at the Southern Classic. Last season SIU went 3-1 in the tournament. Its only non-conference loss of the year came at the hands of Kansas at the Southern Classic but the Salukis paid the Jayhawks back with a 4-2 win that gave SIU the tournament championship.
Blaylock said she likes to invite interesting and tough opponents for the Southern Classic.
"We always try to get good, competitive teams to come down here," Blaylock said. "And I think it makes it a fun, competitive tournament."
The team agrees. They like to use the Southern Classic to make themselves more battle-tested.
"It's good to play tough teams because it helps out with our rankings and it gives us good experience for our conference," senior Samantha Carter said.
This year brings the University of Illinois-Chicago, no. 24 ranked Iowa and Northern Illinois. None of the three teams have a record over .500 but it is known that the schedules of each team have been filled with formidable opponents.
UIC, in particular, scares Blaylock. The Flames record is 1-9 and their all-time record against SIU is 0-8, but they've faced three teams ranked in the top 15 nationally, with their biggest loss being by four runs.
"I know on paper it says 1-9, but I throw that out the window," Blaylock said. "When you're playing Stanford and UNLV and Pacific and I can go on and on. They're playing top 25 teams every game it seems like."
Adding to the suspense this weekend is the chance for the Salukis to give Blaylock her 250th career win if they win each of their four games. When Louis heard about this development, she brightened up.
"That would be great, that would definitely provide some extra incentive there," Louis said. "(Blaylock) does so much for this team, it's nice to give back to her and let her have things to look at that she's accomplished."
Blaylock, on the other hand, took the humble route, saying that the 250th win would be nice but her focus will continue to stay on her players.
"Somebody mentioned that the other day and I had no idea about it," Blaylock said. "I don't really get caught up in those milestones, it's nice, but all it means is that we've had good kids in here. The kids, to me, are more responsible for that than I am."
