| JuiceBlendz FIU Invitational |
|---|
Game 1:
LIU | Friday, Feb. 12, 2016 | 9 a.m. CT | Miami, Fla. | FIU Softball Stadium
Live Stats |
Game 2:
Valparaiso | Friday, Feb. 12, 2016 | 4:30 p.m. CT | Miami, Fla. | FIU Softball Stadium
Live Stats |
Game 3:
No. 10 Florida State | Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016 | 12 p.m. CT | Miami, Fla. | FIU Softball Stadium
Live Stats | Video |
Game 4:
Florida International | Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016 | 6:30 p.m. CT | Miami, Fla. | FIU Softball Stadium
Live Stats |
Game 5:
St. John's | Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 | 8 a.m. CT | Miami, Fla. | FIU Softball Stadium
Live Stats |
| Tournament Central | http://bit.ly/FIU_Central |
| Full Tournament Notes | Illinois |
| 2015 Statistics | Illinois | LIU | Valparaiso | Florida State | Florida International | St. John's |
| Series History | LIU: Illinois leads, 3-0 // Last: W, 11-8; 3/18/2006 // Streak: Won 3
Valparaiso: Illinois leads, 6-0 // Last: W, 13-0 (5); 4/29/2003 // Streak: Won 6
Florida State: Illinois leads, 2-1 // Last: W, 4-3; 2/26/2010 // Streak: Won 1
Florida International: Illinois leads, 4-1 // Last: L, 8-0 (6); 2/12/2012 // Streak: Lost 1
St. John's: Illinois leads, 1-0 // Last: W, 9-0 (5); 2/14/2003 // Won 1 |
| Social Media | @IlliniSB  | #Illini | Facebook  | @IlliniSB  | YouTube  |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois softball is set to open the 2016 with its first of five tournaments this season, traveling south to Miami, Fla., for the JuiceBlendz FIU Invitational, hosted by Florida International on Feb. 12-14 at the FIU Softball Stadium. The Illini will face a challenge slate of teams with two teams having advanced to the NCAA tournament a year ago in preseason No. 10 Florida State and St. John's. UI will also take on host FIU, Valpo and LIU.
ILLINI NOTES
- After 16 seasons as the only head coach of the Illinois softball program, Terri Sullivan retired as Tyra Perry was named the second-ever head coach in program history in June of 2015.
- Illinois boast a challenge slate in 2016 as the Illini face off against 11 schools that participated in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, including this weekend's opponents Florida State and St. John's, as well as Weber State, Cal State Northridge, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas and Big Ten foes Michigan (2015 College World Series participant), Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern.
- The Illini return 18 players from last year's squad, while adding four freshmen, including Stephanie Abello, Alexis Carrillo, Taylor Edwards and Veronica Ruelius.
- The Illini finished the 2015 season with a 26-27 overall record and finished in fifth place in the Big Ten with a record of 14-9 in league games.
- The Fighting Illini did just that during 2015 as they opened the season in a 8-20 hole by March 25. However, the Orange and Blue never gave up, and by the end of March, everything began to click, as the Fighting Illini went 18-6 over the final 24 games to wrap the regular season with an even 26-26 record.
- Illinois captured the #5 seed for the Big Ten Tournament, marking the Illini's highest seed since 2004, when the #2 Illini advanced to the Big Ten Championship
- The Illini had finished fifth or higher in the Big Ten standings three times since 2004 (2009, 2010, 2011), but all during the Big Ten Tournament's four-year hiatus. Despite holding the higher seed, the Illini fell in the 2015 first round, dropping their opening game to #12 Purdue, 3-2.
- Allie Bauch, Carly Thomas and Alyssa Gunther all took home all-conference honors, as Bauch and Thomas were named to the All-Big Ten First Team while Gunther garnered All-Big Ten Second Team and earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. All three picked up their first all-conference selections.
- Bauch became the first Illini softball player in program history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, earning a place on the First-Team following a successful campaign on the field and in the classroom.
- The Illini hit 68 home runs on the season, ranking fifth in the Big Ten and 26th in the nation, as well as third among single-season totals in Illinois history.
- The 2015 Illini had one of the best offensive seasons in program history, posting a program-high .324 batting average and .536 slugging percentage while ranking second all time with an on base percentage of .396. The 2015 Illini sit in third all time with 68 home runs, second with 93 doubles, 781 total bases and 472 hits, and fourth in runs scored and RBIs. The Illini broke the program record for sacrifice flies on April 18 and recorded the third-fewest strikeouts ever.
- Jade Vecvanags posted a 13-6 record in conference play, breaking the all-time Illini record for wins in Big Ten action.
- The Illini offense produced a school-record 1.75 doubles per game, ranking fifth in the nation in total two-baggers. Bauch was a key contributor to this feat, producing 18 doubles on the year, which ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 26th in the nation and was just one shy of the all-time Illinois record. Additionally, Thomas and Nicole Evans hit 15 and 14, respectively. All three broke the Illini's previous Big Ten play record, led by Thomas with 12, and Thomas broke the rookie record for two-basers as well.
- Heading into the final game of the regular season, Bauch had put together a 24-game reached-base streak, the fourth-longest single-season streak in school history.
SCOUTING FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
FIU posted a 20-10 record in non-conference, including a 10-7 mark away from home. When conference play started, the Panthers were 15-8. FIU did not have that level of success in C-USA, ending with a 10-14 league mark and out of the Championships. The overall mark was 30-24. The Panthers return their top three hitters, including the majority of their power from the 2015 squad that was second in Conference USA in doubles and triples. First baseman and 2015 All-Conference performer Stephanie Texeira led the league in on-base percentage (.613) and walks (51), while turning in a school-record .444 batting average, good enough for third in the league in 2015. In the pitching circle, senior Corinne Jenkins recorded the majority of the decisions last season. An 18-game winner last year, Jenkins will lead a new pitching staff in 2016.
SCOUTING LIU
LIU returns seven starters and 12 letterwinners from last season's team that went 23-30 and advanced to the championship round of the Northeast Conference Tournament before falling to Central Connecticut. Senior Whitney West leads the returning offensive players for LIU Brooklyn. A three-year starter and two-time All-NEC Second Team selection, West hit a team-high .348 last season and stole 13 bases. The speedy outfielder finished the season with a flourish, going 8-for-13 in the NEC Tournament to give her 171 hits in her career. Last season's NEC Rookie of the Year and Second Team All-NEC catcher Victoria Zamora is another returning starter for the Blackbirds. Zamora hit six of LIU's 43 home runs, with the team total tying the program and conference record for home runs in a season (2006). The Orange, Calif. product hit .415 in conference play and registered a .556 on-base percentage against league foes.
SCOUTING VALPARAISO
Under second-year head coach Kate Stake, Valparaiso enters the 2016 season picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League after finishing tied for fourth in Stake's first season in 2015. A veteran group returns for Stake, as the Crusaders lose just two players from last year's team while returning 15 letterwinners. Leading the way for Valpo - which averaged nearly five runs/game last year and set a team single-season program record for on-base percentage - is senior outfielder Kaitlyn Ranieri, a two-time First Team All-League honoree who hit .407 with 41 runs scored and 39 RBIs last year while also drawing a program-record 40 walks.
SCOUTING FLORIDA STATE
Florida State starts the year with the number-10 ranking after finishing 2015 with a record of 49-14 and winning the championship of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Redshirt junior Jessica Burroughs returns as the ace of the pitching staff after posting a 19-6 record with a 2.08 ERA last season. At the plate, sophomore Jessica Warren looks to build on her 19 HR, 57 RBI season that earned her 2015 ACC Freshman of the Year honors. Lonni Alameda is entering her eighth season as the head coach of the Seminoles, earning a record of 315-120 at FSU with three consecutive ACC Coach of the Year awards.
SCOUTING ST. JOHN'S
The St. John's softball team was unanimously selected to repeat as the 2016 BIG EAST softball champion after claiming the program's first conference regular season and tournament titles a year ago with a 28-19, 16-2 BIG EAST record, which vaulted the program to its first NCAA appearance. Head coach Amy Kvilhaug enters her 10th season leading the Red Storm. In addition to bringing back the reigning BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year in Tori Free (7-1, 0.90 ERA), the Johnnies return all but one starter, including five position players that earned All-BIG EAST honors. First-team selections Brittany Garcia, Krystal Puga and Lauren Zick and second team recipients Yvonne Rericha and Monique Landini highlight a lineup that helped St. John's set single-season program-records in batting average (.317), runs (243), RBI (224) and walks (152).
