Meet the Redbirds
ILLINOIS STATE Softball #5 KARA NELSON 5-8 | Jr. | 2B Moline, Ill. Moline HS 2009: Named to the initial ASA Player of the Year watch list ... granted a Medical Hardship by the NCAA after an injury to her hand ... AFNI Athletics Honor Roll member. 2008: Named to the All-MVC First Team for the second-straight season ... member of the 2008 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Great Lakes Region First Team ... named to the initial Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Top-50 Watch List for the Seventh Annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award ... became just the second Redbird in program history to record multiple .400-or-better seasons at the plate in a career ... finished the season on a career-high 16-game hitting streak, the longest hitting streak by any Redbird in 2008 ... recorded her 50th hit of the season against Indiana State (April 23), which marked the 47th time in Illinois State softball history that a Redbird has recorded 50-ormore hits in a single-season and the second-straight year that Nelson has accomplished the feat ... went 3-for-4 with a single, triple and a home run against Buffalo (Feb. 24), while she also stole two bases in the game ... hit .615 (8-for-13) at the Littlewood Classic (Feb. 22-24), where she recorded seven RBI, four runs scored, a 1.077 slugging percentage, four stolen bases and a .688 on-base percentage.
Moline HS: Member of the 2006 IHSA Class AA State Championship Team ... helped her team to a second-place finish in the 2005 IHSA Class AA State Tournament ... as a junior, led the conference with a .388 average and 33 stolen bases; also led the conference in hits ... earned all-conference and all-metro honors in 2005 ... 2005 IHSA Class AA State All-Tournament Team honoree ... helped guide her team to conference softball crowns in 2004 and 2005 ... twoyear starter in softball and volleyball; started as a senior on the basketball team ... helped her team to three-straight conference titles in volleyball ... two-time all-conference and all-metro selection in volleyball ... in 2005, her volleyball team won the regional and sectional titles en route to setting the school record for wins in a season ... two-time team captain for volleyball ... National Honor Society member ... Spanish National Honor Society member. Summer Team: Quad City Elite coached by Dan Reisenbigler Personal: Born June 20, 1988 ... Parents: Jeff and Kim Nelson ... Sibling: Lindsey ... Major: business administration.
2007: Became the first-ever freshman to earn the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year award ... named to the 2007 Easton All-America First Team ... selected to the 2007 Louisville Slugger/ NFCA Division I All-America Second Team ... selected to the All-MVC First Team ... set team freshman record for single-season batting average (.415) ... AFNI Athletics Honor Roll member.
Year AVG GP/GS AB
R
H
2B 3B
HR
RBI TB
SLG%
BB
HBP
SO
OB%
SB
ATT
PO
A
E
FLD%
2007 .415 61/61
217
59
90
14
4
3
21 121
.558
12
2
21
.448
1
3
3
3
46
112
9
.946
2008 .401 48/48
152
37
61
9
7
4
25
96
.632
16
3
16
.468
0
3
9
11
37
101
7
.952
2009 .118
17
3
2
0
0
0
0
2
.118
0
0
5
.118
0
0
0
0
14
5
3
.864
99 153 23
11
7
46 219
.567
28
5
42
.443
1
6
12
14
97
218 19
.943
8/7
Total .396 117/116 386
32
SF SH
2010 Redbird Softball Media Guide