Urbana, Ill. - The Fighting Illini closed fall play with their annual Orange and Blue World Series, a two-week intrasquad tournament with bragging rights on the line. The Orange and Blue teams split on opening weekend, but strong senior leadership by Shelese Arnold powered the Orange team to victory on Friday to help Orange top Blue, 8-1, in the rubber match.

The Orange team put up six runs in the bottom of the first, with the help of singles by Allie Bauch and Nicole Evans and a two-run home run by Arnold, to take a daunting early lead. Evans then added to the Orange lead with a two-run shot of her own to make it 8-0. Alyssa Gunther got one back for the Blue team in the top of the sixth, reaching third base on a single and two passed balls and was driven in on a sacrifice fly by Paige Roytek, but the unearned run was it for Blue, as Arnold wrapped up six innings allowing just three hits and no earned runs. Transfer Breanna Wonderly sealed the deal for the Orange team in the seventh, tossing a perfect 1-2-3 inning to close out the game.

Evans and Arnold led the Illini at the plate in the fall, as the sophomore outfielder hit .379 over a team-high 29 at bats, adding four home run, four doubles and 11 RBIs for a .931 slugging percentage. Arnold, who has just three at bats for her Illini career, may just have earned herself a spot on the offensive lineup, hitting .455 with two home runs and six RBIs over 11 at bats during the World Series. Allie Bauch, Jill Nicklas and Carly Thomas all hit over .350 for the fall, helping the Illini post a .279 team average while slugging 11 home runs.