May 1, 2007

Urbana, Ill. -

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Illinois (29-23, 7-7) is in a three way battle for fourth place in the Big Ten with Iowa (9-7) and Purdue (8-9). The Illini play a two-game series this weekend with the Hawkeyes in Iowa City. Illinois has cliniched a spot in next week's eight-team single-elimination Big Ten Tournament.

The Illini have midweek games against the Missouri Valley Conference, traveling to No. 19 Southern Illinos for a doubleheader on Wednesday and hosting Bradley for a single game Thursday at 5 p.m.

Big Ten Tournament May 10-12

The Big Ten Tournament is held at the home of the conference champion each year. This year the tourney will be either at Ohio State or Northwestern. Ohio State (12-2) needs to sweep Penn State in Columbus to clinch the title. If the Buckeyes should lose one of the two games, Northwestern (15-3), who is through with conference games, would be the winners and host.

Tournament Schedule (Times TBA)
Game 1 -- No. 2 Seed vs. No. 7 Seed, Thursday
Game 2 -- No. 1 Seed vs. No. 8 Seed, Thursday
Game 3 -- No. 3 Seed vs. No. 6 Seed, Friday
Game 4 -- No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed, Friday
Game 5 -- Winner #1 vs. Winner #3, Friday
Game 6 -- Winner #2 vs. Winner #4, Friday
Game 7 -- Championship Game, Saturday

• NCAA Parings will be on ESPNNews, between 3-4 p.m. on Sunday, May 13

Illinois at No. 19 S. Illinois (37-11), Charlotte West Stadium, Carbondale, Ill., 2 p.m. (DH)

• This is the fourth time that Illinois and Southern Illinois have been scheduled to play. The doubleheaders in 2005 and 2006 were rained out. This will be Illinois' first trip to Carbondale.
• Illinois leads the all-time series 2-0, having swept a doubleheader in Champaign on April 27, 2004. The Illini defeated SIU 3-2 in both games, the first in eight innings. Amanda Fortune tossed eight innings to pick up the win. Lindsey Hamma had all three RBI for Illinois while SIU's Haley Viefhaus homered in the first game. Julie Balicki's two-run double in the fourth was the difference in the second game.
• Illinois and Southern Illinois were each in the same NCAA Regional in 2003 at Tuscaloosa, Ala. SIU reached the Regional Final or NCAA Sweet 16 Round, finishing runner-up to host Alabama.
• Southern Illinois has two wins over Big Ten teams, having defeated Indiana (6-2) and Minnesota (6-4). The Salukis have wins over #5 LSU (8-5) & #20 Florida St. (4-1). They lost two of three at #22 Illinois State over the weekend.

Bradley (24-19) at Illinois, Eichelberger Field, Urbana, Ill., 5 p.m.

• Although Senior Day was celebrated on Saturday, this will be the final home game for seniors Brittany Koester, Molly Lawhead, Sydney Lisy and Kisten Martin.
• Illinois leads the all-time series 4-3. Bradley swept last year's games 8-5 and 6-1 in East Peoria.
• The Braves and Illini have a few common opponents. Bradley defeated E. Illinois 3-1 and 3-1, and Western Illinois, 4-2 and 7-4 and were swept by Illinois State 3-2, 8-1, and 8-0.

Illinois at Iowa (35-20, 9-7), Pearl Field, Iowa City, Iowa, May 5, Noon; May 6, 1 p.m.

• Illinois and Iowa have had some classic duals, many on the last weekend of the season. In 2004, Illinois needed two wins to finish second in the Big Ten. The Illini won 2-0 and 5-2 in Champaign. Sarah Baumgarter was a last minute starter for Rachelle Coriddi, who had an emergency appendectomy. Baumgartner delivered the game-winning RBI on Sunday with a two-out, two-run single in the second. The Illini won despite solo home runs from Iowa's Natalie Johnson and Emily Gerlick.
• In 2005, Jenna Hall wrapped up the team's Slugger Award with a grand slam in the Illini's 8-7 win in Iowa City
• In 2001, Illinois posted back-to-back shutouts over No. 12 Iowa, a team that would advance to the Women's College World Series that year.
• Iowa leads the all-time series, 9-6, which includes 2-1 in the Big Ten Tournament. Each team has won 3-2 -- Illinois in 2002 and Iowa in 2003. Iowa is 4-1 vs. the Illini in Iowa City
• Iowa's Brittany Weil ranks third in the Big Ten in ERA at 1.57. Emily Nichols is third in the league in batting average (.407)
• Illinois needs a sweep to lock up its fourth top-four finish in the conference in its seven years of Big Ten play. The Illini were also fifth in 2002.

World's Largest Softball Tailgate IV a success

Illinois hosted the World's Largest Softball Tailgate on Saturday, April 28. The event was a huge success with the in-game crowd of 1,445. The event, which featured live music, entertainment, games for kids and a host of food started in 2004, the brainchild of Director of Athletic Development Shawn Wax and player Sarah Baumgartner. The idea was to have the atmosphere of a football tailgate in the spring time as a way to promote the softball team. Here is a look at the year-by-year WLST crowds:

 
Year	Opponent	Official Crowd 
2004	Ohio State	756
2005	Minnesota	906
2006	Northwestern	1,283
2007	DePaul	1,445
• Illinois has had three of the top six crowds in Illinois history this season:
1. DePaul (4/28)	1,445
4. Penn State (4/22)	818
6. Michigan (4/15)	804