Games 47-49: Illinois (31-15, 9-6 B1G) at Penn State (7-37, 3-14 B1G)
When & Where	April 27-29, 2018 // Friday: 7 p.m. CT | Saturday: 2 p.m. | Sunday: 11 a.m. // Beard Field at Nittany Lion Softball Park // University Park, Pa.
Game Coverage	Live Stats: Friday | Saturday | Sunday // TV: BTN (Friday Only) // Live Video: Saturday | Sunday
Full Game Notes	Illinois
Statistics	Illinois | Penn State
Series History	Illinois leads, 24-13 // Last: W, 3-0; 5/12/2017; Ann Arbor, Mich. // Streak Won 2
Tickets	Information
Social Media	@IlliniSB | #Illini | Facebook | @IlliniSB | YouTube

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois softball team next heads to University Park., Pa., to take on Penn State in its final Big Ten Conference road series of the season this weekend, April 27-29 in Beard Field at the Nittany Lion Softball Park. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. CT on Friday night, followed by a 2 p.m., start on Saturday and an 11 a.m., first pitch for Sunday's series finale.

ILLINI NOTES

• With just seven games remaining on the schedule for the regular season, the Illini sit at 31-15 on the season and are in sixth place in the Big Ten Conference standings with a 9-6 record. The Illini own an impressive 12-1 mark at home in Eichelberger Field and equaled their longest win streak of the season at six games after sweeps of Green Bay and Iowa last week and a midweek win over Eastern Illinois on Wednesday.
• In the latest NCAA softball RPI that was released on Monday (April 17), the Illini came in at the No. 53 spot and rank as the sixth-highest team in the RPI rankings. No. 25 Minnesota leads the conference, with No. 29 Michigan, No. 32 Ohio State, No. 34 Nebraska and No. 36 Northwestern rounding out the top five.
• The 2018 season marks the 19th season for the Illinois softball program, with the Illini just eight wins from recording the program's 600th victory with a 593-426-2 (.582) overall record. In Big Ten conference action, the Illini also hold a 191-168 (.532) mark. 
• The Illini registered back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances for the first time since 2009-10 and are looking to make history in 2018 with a third-straight appearance, which would be a first for the program.

ILLINI MAKE IT SIX-STRAIGHT WITH 5-4 WIN OVER PANTHERS

• Senior Sam Acosta drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning and classmate Maddi Doane threw out the lead Eastern Illinois runner for the final out of the game as the Illini went on for a 5-4 win over the Panthers on Wednesday (April 25) night at Eichelberger Field. 
• Junior Kiana Sherlund knocked a pair of hits – including a triple – while adding an RBI and a run in the win. 
• Junior Taylor Edwards (13-7) earned the win after 2.1 innings of relief action, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks and striking out one.

ILLINI GO 5-0 AFTER SWEEPS OF GREEN BAY & IOWA

• The Illinois softball team posted an undefeated on the week with five-straight wins, including a doubleheader sweep of Green Bay and a B1G series sweep of Iowa over the weekend.
• The Illini opened their week with a pair of wins, 4-1 and 6-4, over Green Bay in nonconference action last Wednesday at Eichelberger Field. UI then took all three games against the Hawkeyes this past weekend, including earning a 7-1 win on Friday, a dramatic 6-5 walk off win in eight innings on Saturday night and a 9-7 victory in Sunday's series finale.
• Junior Alexis Carrillo delivered the walk-off RBI single to score senior Sam Acosta, who represented the game-winning run  on Saturday night.
• Redshirt-junior Carly Thomas led all players with a .556 batting average on a 10-of-18 effort of the plate, with half her hits going for extra bases, including three doubles, a triple and a home run. She added five RBI, five runs and 18 total bases, while registering a 1.000 slugging percentage, a .579 on-base percentage and a 1.000 fielding percentage.
• Thomas totaled eight hits (2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR), five RBI and four runs, while notching a 1.364 slugging percentage and a .750 on-base percentage against the Hawkeyes. She had a big series opener, going 4-for-4 with two double and a triple, while also tallying three runs and two RBI on Friday, before adding her sixth home run of the season on Saturday and finished up the series with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate with two RBI and a stolen base.
• Freshman Bella Loya registered a .444 batting average (8-of-18) with a home run as well as a team-leading six RBI and five runs. She added 11 total bases, a .611 slugging percentage and .444 on-base percentage, while also recording a 1.000 fielding percentage with 41 putouts and an assist at two different positions – seeing action behind the plate in the doubleheader against Green Bay and at first base in all three games against Iowa. Her weekend was highlighted by a 3-for-4 performance with three RBI on Friday night, followed by another 3-for-4 effort with a run on Saturday.
• Junior Taylor Edwards collected four of the Illini's five wins, posting a 4-0 record - including all three wins over the Hawkeyes - with a 1.91 ERA after allowing just seven earned runs in 25.2 innings of work. She made four appearances and three starts on the week, totaling two complete games and a pair of strikeouts. Her weekend was then highlighted by a two-hit, one-unearned run, six-inning outing to earn the series opening win over Iowa on Friday and strong relief effort on Saturday, where she earned the win after giving up just two earned runs on five hits and three walks in 5.2 frames.

ILLINI IN THE LAST SIX GAMES

• Redshirt-junior Carly Thomas has paced the Illini offense with a .500 batting average on a 11-of-22 performance at the plate that includes three doubles, a triple and a home run, while also posting five RBI, five runs and going 2-for-2 on stolen bases.
• Junior Kiana Sherlund has also totaled a team-high 11 hits (1 2B, 1 3B) and owns .478 batting average in the last six games. She has also posted seven runs, five RBI and a team-high three stolen bases.
• Freshman Bella Loya has notched a team-high eight RBI on nine hits, including a pair of home runs, while seeing action at both first base and behind the plate.
• Senior Maddi Doane only posted three hits over the past week, but two of the three went as home runs.
• Junior Taylor Edwards has registered four-straight wins and five of the Illini's last six wins, while posting a team-low 2.25 ERA in 28.0 innings, including two complete games.

SHERLUND SETS SEASON RECORD FOR TRIPLES

• With a triple in Wednesday's win over Eastern Illinois, junior Kiana Sherlund set a new season record with her eighth three-bagger of the season. 
• Sherlund bested Rachelle Coriddi's recoed of seven triples set during the 2005 season. 

DINGERS FOR DAYS

• The Illini have registered 42 home runs this season and have knocked at least one home run in six of their last nine games - including hitting three in a win over Maryland on April 8. UI also posted an eight-game span of knocking at least one home run in each game that ran from the second contest against Missouri on March 14 to SIUE on March 21. 
• The Illini have registered mulitple home runs in 11 games in 2018, including knocking a season-high five dingers in game one against UIC on March 21 and notching five contests with three homers.
• Senior Maddi Doane paces the Illini with nine home runs and ranks 10th in the Big Ten.
• Freshman Bella Loya sits just behind Doane with eight homers, while redshirt-junior Carly Thomas sits in third on the team with six dingers. Junior Kiana Sherlund and freshman Maddison Demers have each added four dingers this season, with three of Sherlund's long balls coming as grand slams.

SHERLUND & THOMAS LEADING THE ILLINI OFFENSE

• Junior Kiana Sherlund and redshirt-junior Carly Thomas have been offensive catalysts for the Illini this season with the duo leading the squad and ranking in the top 10 of the Big Ten with Sherlund sitting third with a .402 average and Thomas ranking seventh with a .384 clip, while also ranking in the top 10 in the conference in runs, hits, RBI and total bases.
• Sherlund paces the conference with 70 hits, eight triples and 103 total bases, as well as sitting third with 43 runs, eighth with 38 RBI and 12th with 11 stolen bases.
• Thomas also ranks tied for second with 17 doubles, third with 97 total bases, as well as sitting fourth with 58 hits and 42 runs and tied for sixth with 39 RBI.
• Sherlund's seven three-baggers this season ranks second in the nation, with her 0.17 triples per game also sitting third in the NCAA.
• With 17 doubles on the season, Thomas ranks in a tie for fourth all-time in program history for two-baggers in a season.
• Sherlund also ranks fourth in the nation in hits, as well as 37th in total bases, 45th in runs per game and 73rd in batting average, while Thomas ranks eighth in the country in doubles, as well as 15th in doubles per game, 20th in sacrifice flies, 52nd in hits and 56th in runs per game and total bases.
• Sherlund owns a team-high 23 multiple-hit games -  including five three-hit contests and two four-hit game - while also totaling 10 multiple-RBI games this season, highlighted by a five-RBI effort against Maryland on April 8 as well as four-RBI performances in wins over Murray State on March 3 and UIC on March 20.
• Thomas also owns 10 multiple RBI games with two three RBI games and two four RBI games this season.

ILLINI AT THE PLATE

• The Illini lead the Big Ten in eight offensive categories, including batting average (.324), slugging percentage (.501), runs scored (299), hits (420), RBI (272), doubles (73), triples (15) and total bases (649), while also sitting second in sacrifice flies (10) and third in on-base percentage (.389), home runs (42) and HBP (35).
• In league action, the Illini lead with 31 doubles, while also ranking second in runs (113), hits (102) and total bases (207).
• The Illini owns one of the top-ranked offenses in the nation, ranking ninth in the country with 6.50 runs per game and 10th with a .324 batting average. The Illini also rank in the top 50 nationally in doubles per game (15th, 1.59), slugging percentage (16th, .501), triples per game (15th, 0.33), double plays per game (23rd, 0.48) and home runs per game (44th, 0.91).
• Senior Sam Acosta ranks third in the league with eight sacrifice bunts and is 10th with a team-leading 12 stolen bases.
• Junior Kiana Sherlund currently owns a team-leading six-game hitting streak, with freshman Bella Loya owning the longest of the season for the Illini at 15-games, while Thomas owns the longest reached-base streak at 24 games.