University of Illinois
Illinois State
@IlliniSB Set for Midweek Tilt at Illinois State
April 4, 2016 | Softball
First pitch between the Illini and Redbirds slated for 5 p.m. CT at Marian Kneer Stadium
| Illinois (22-12, 3-2 Big Ten) at Illinois State (10-23, 2-6 Missouri Valley) | |
|---|---|
| When & Where | Tuesday, April 5, 2016 // Normal, Ill. // Marian Kneer Stadium |
| Game Coverage | Live Stats | Live Video |
| Full Game Notes | Illinois |
| Statistics | Illinois | Illinois State |
| Series History | Illinois leads, 11-8 // Last: W, 5-4; 3/31/2015 // Streak: Won 2 |
| Social Media | @IlliniSB  | #Illini | Facebook  | @IlliniSB  | YouTube  |
Champaign, Ill. - After two weeks of Big Ten Conference play, the Fighting Illini softball team will take a break from league action for a nonconference midweek tilt with Illinois State on Tuesday, April 5 in Normal, Ill. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT at Marian Kneer Stadium.
The Illini are coming off a disappointing Big Ten Conference series loss to Rutgers over the weekend. After run-ruling the Scarlet Knights, 8-0, in six innings on Friday night, the Illini dropped back-to-back contests to RU, including a heartbreaking 10-5 loss on Saturday in eight innings and a 3-1 setback on Sunday that saw UI held to just one run and three hits in the series finale.
The Illini, who are 22-12 on the season and own a 3-3 mark in the conference standings, hold a 19-9 record in nonconference action.
Illini Notes
- Sophomore Annie Fleming and senior Allie Bauch led the Illini at the dish against the Scarlet Knights, totaling five knocks each on the weekend with seven of their combined 10 hits going for extra bases. Fleming notched three doubles and a triple to go along with four RBI, while Bauch tallied a double, a home run and two RBI.
- Junior pitcher Jade Vecvanags went 1-1 and owned a 0.78 ERA over the weekend as she allowed just one earned run on three hits and struck out seven in nine innings of action.
- With 16 triples on the season, the Illini rank second in the NCAA with 0.47 three-baggers per game. Fleming leads the Illini, is the co-leader in the Big Ten and sits fifth in the NCAA with five on the season, while Bauch is right behind Fleming with three triples this season to rank in a tie for fourth in the conference and 30th in the nation. On the flip side, the Illini pitchers have not given up a three-bagger in 34 contests this season.
- The Illini's 16 triples sets a program record for triples in a season, passing the previous record of 15 in 2005.
- Fleming's five triples this season ranks third all-time in program history and have pushed her into the top-10 in career all-time rankings as she is tied for ninth with five career three-baggers.
- The Illini lead the Big Ten Conference with 300 hits, 59 doubles, 16 triples and 478 total bases on the season, while also ranking in the top four in several other offensive categories, including sitting second in stolen bases (58), third in batting average (.323) and sacrifice bunts (23), and are fourth in runs (201), slugging percentage (.515), RBIs (174) and sacrifice flies (eight).
- Along with being one of the top offensive units in the Big Ten, the Illini also rank highly in the NCAA and sit in the top 50 in doubles per game (ninth, 1.74), slugging percentage (24th, .514), batting average (26th, .322), double plays per game (31, 0.44), stolen bases per game (34th, 1.71) and scoring (40th, 5.91).
- Sophomore Carly Thomas leads the Illini and ranks third in the conference with 45 hits and 11 doubles, while also pacing the Orange and Blue with a .369 batting average.
- Junior Nicole Evans has knocked a team-high eight homers in 2016, wihile also registering the most RBIs with 33 and is the co-leader on the team with 11 doubles. In the Big Ten, Evans' numbers rank her tied for third in doubles, tied for fourth in homers and sixth in RBI.
- Thomas has also totaled a team-high 15 mulitple-hit games and currently owns a 13-game reached base streak, while senior Remeny Perez currently owns the Illini's longest current hitting streak at eight games, with Thomas right behind her with a seven-game hitting streak.
- The Illini have been stealthy on the base paths and are 58-for-74 in stolen base attempts with senior Kylie Johnson pacing the Illini with a 14-for-15 mark. Along with Johnson, Illinois has five other players with at-least five stolen bases with Bauch and sophomore Jill Nicklas second on the team with a 7-for-8 mark.
- For the sixth time in program history and the first time since 2010, the Fighting Illini reached 20 wins in the month of March after earning their 20st and 21st victories of the season over Nebraska on March 26.
- The Illini opened Big Ten Conference action with a 2-1 series win over Nebraska on March 25-26 and ended an impressive streak for the Huskers as NU had not lost a Big Ten road series in the last three seasons until last weekend, with its last league road series lost coming in May of 2012.
- 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.
- The Illini, who have posted seven run-rule victories (Central Michigan, Penn, East Carolina, IUPUI, Seattle, Nebraska, Rutgers) this season, are outscoring their opponents 201-132 and are averaging just under six runs per game.
- After opening the 2016 season with a 2-3 mark at the JuiceBlendz FIU Invitational, the Illini rebounded to post winning records at their next three of four non-conference tournaments, including a 3-1 mark in the inaugural Big Ten/ACC Softball Challenge and 4-1 records in their final two tournaments of the season at the USF Under Armour Invitational and the San Diego Classic II.
- 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.
Scouting the Redbirds
Illinois State comes into Tuesday's match-up with a 10-23 record and are 2-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference after snapping a six-game losing streak with a 9-8 come-from behind win over Wichita State on Sunday. The Redbirds lost the series with the Shockers with losses of 8-6 and 14-6 in five innings on Saturday. ISU is led by Riley Strandgard and Jordan de los Reyes, both of whom own a team-high .347 batting average and 35 hits. de los Reyes has also totaled 25 RBI on the season.
In the circle, Sarah Finck has thrown 103.2 of ISU's 208.2 innings played and is 4-11 on the year with a 3.31 ERA. She has given up 49 earned runs, 16 doubles and seven home runs, while notching 50 strikeouts and giving up 35 walks.
Next Up
The Illinois softball team next travels north for its first Big Ten Conference road series of the season as the Illini take on No. 21/22 Minnesota in a three-game series on April 8-10 in Jane Sage Cowles Stadium. Game times for the weekend are 6, 1 and 12 p.m. CT, respectively, with all three games scheduled to be streamed on BTN Plus.
