Champaign, Ill. - After four weeks of tournament play, the Fighting Illini softball team returns to Champaign-Urbana for their home opener, taking on IUPUI in a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 15 at Eichelberger Field. With rain forecasted for the afternoon, the start time for the first game was changed from 2 p.m. CT to 1:30 p.m., with game two to follow approximately 20 minutes following the conclusion of the first contest.
Illinois was last in action on March 4-6 at the USF Under Armour Invitational, where the Illini went 4-1 with wins over Sam Houston State, Central Michigan, Penn and East Carolina and a close 5-4 loss to South Florida.
Illini Notes
- The Illini's 11-0 five-inning win over East Carolina on March 6 marked an historic occasion for the softball program, as it was the 500th victory in the history of the program. Since its inception in 2000, the Illini have posted a 500-376-2 (.571) record in 17 seasons.
- The Illini posted their first three run-rule victories (Central Michigan, Penn, East Carolina) of the season in Tampa, where UI outscored its opponents 47-15, including plating the three highest run totals for the season in wins over Sam Houston State (13), Central Michigan (11) and East Carolina (11).
- The Illini also registered their season-high for hits with 17 against CMU, while also notching the second-highest number of hits with 14 against SHSU.
- After their hot weekend at the plate in Tampa, the Illini rank second in the conference with a .314 team batting average and six triples, and third in slugging percentage (.489) and runs scored (111). In the NCAA, the Illini are 28th in triples, 37th in slugging percentage an 49th in batting average.
- After a breakout weekend at the USF Under Armour Invitational, freshman pitcher Taylor Edwards earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors as she went 2-0 with an 0.70 ERA in 10 innings, posting her first two collegiate wins in the circle. She allowed just one earned run on the weekend on nine hits and totaled six strikeouts.
- After opening the season going 3-for-14 at the plate, senior Allie Bauch has registered a .448 batting average, going 13-for-29 with 13 hits - including two homers and two doubles - to go along with 12 RBI and a .724 slugging percentage.
- Bauch has been streaking as of late as the Schaumburg, Ill., native has posted at least one RBI in her last 10 games, as well as currently owning an eight-game reached base streak and a five-game hitting streak. Joining her is sophomore Carly Thomas, who owns a team-best seven-game hitting streak as well as seven-game reached base streak.
- The Illini lead the Big Ten and rank 14th in the country with 40 stolen bases and 2.11 stolen bases per game on the season, with senior Kylie Johnson pacing the Illini with a 10-for-11 mark to rank fourth in the conference and 63rd in the NCAA.
- The Illini have been doubling up their opponents on the base paths and rank second in the league and 17th in the NCAA with 34 doubles and are averaging 1.79 two-baggers per game. Thomas leads the Illini with nine doubles in her sophomore season to sit second in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation.
- The Illini opened the 2016 season down in Miami, Fla., at the JuiceBlendz FIU Invitational on Feb. 12-14, where they went 2-3, including wins over Valparaiso and then-No. 10 Florida State, before taking part in the inaugural Big Ten/ACC Softball Challenge on Feb. 19-21. The Illini went 3-1 with a sweep of Boston College and a split with North Carolina as they helped the Big Ten to a dominating win in the challenge by taking 20 of 32 contests on the weekend.
- In the Illini's season-opening tournament in Miami, Fla., UI registered a 5-1 win over then-No. 10 Florida State on Feb. 13, with the victory over the Seminoles marking the first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 4 Michigan on April 25, 2014 at Eichelberger Field. It was also just the seventh win against a top-10 foe and just the fourth win against a top-10 team not named Michigan.
- Earlier this season the Illini participated in the inaugural Big Ten/ACC Softball Challenge on Feb. 19-21, where Illinois went 3-1 with a sweep of Boston College and a split with North Carolina en route to helping the Big Ten to a dominating win in the challenge by taking 20 of 32 contests on the weekend.
- Illinois boast a challenging slate in 2016 as the Illini face off against 10 schools that participated in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, including Florida State, St. John's, North Carolina, Texas, Weber State, CSUN, and Big Ten foes Michigan (2015 College World Series participant), Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern.
Scouting IUPUI
Along with the Illini, IUPUI is coming off of a bye week and last played at the Miami of Ohio Tournament on March 4-6, where the Jaguars went 2-3 with a pair of wins over the host Redhawks. Roni Patterson leads the Jags with a .389 batting average to go along with a team-high three homeruns, 14 runs and a .630 slugging percentage. Taylor Chitwood leads the team with 16 runs batted in (RBI) and six doubles, while Morgan Schlobohm has a .355 hitting clip to go along with a team-best seven stolen bases (7-for-9). Brooke Boetjer features a 3.16 earned run average (ERA) in the circle on eight starts and 10 appearances, going 5-4 through 55 1/3 innings of works while striking out 32 batters and limiting opposing hitters to a .252 average.
Next Up
The Fighting Illini next travels to California to open Illinois' spring break with their final regular season tournament of the season, the San Diego Classic II, hosted by San Diego State in San Diego, Calif., on March 18-20. The Illini will face Long Beach State, Weber State, St. Mary's College, San Jose State and Seattle in the three-day event.
