Lexington NCAA Regional
Friday, May 20	Game One: Illinois (35-21) vs. Utah (32-19) | 11 a.m. CT | Lexington, Ky. | John Cropp Stadium | ESPN3 | Live Audio // Radio: WDWS 1400 | Live Stats | Tournament Central Game Two: No. 9 Kentucky (43-12) vs. Butler (28-22) | 12:30 p.m. | Lexington, Ky. | John Cropp Stadium | ESPN3 | Live Stats
Saturday, May 21	Game Three: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 | 12 p.m. | Lexington, Ky. | John Cropp Stadium | ESPN3 Game Four: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 | 2:30 p.m. | Lexington, Ky. | John Cropp Stadium | ESPN3 Game Five: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 | 5 p.m. | Lexington, Ky. | John Cropp Stadium | ESPN3
Sunday, May 22	Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 | 12 p.m. | ESPN3 Game 7: (If Necessary) | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN3
Full Tournament Notes	Illinois | Utah | Kentucky | Butler
Statistics	Illinois | Utah | Kentucky | Butler
Series History	Utah: Illinois leads, 2-1 // Last: L, 2-5; 3/21/2008 // Streak: Lost 1 Kentucky: Illinois trails, 0-1 // L, 4-5 (8); 3/31/2013 // Streak: Lost 1 Butler: Illinois leads, 4-0 // Last: W, 3-0; 4/3/2001 // Streak: Won 4
Social Media	@IlliniSB  | #Illini  | Facebook  | @IlliniSB  | YouTube

Champaign, Ill. - For the fifth time in program history and the first since 2010, the Illinois softball team earned a berth into the 2016 NCAA Tournament and was selected as one of the 32 at-large bids, as announced on the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday (May 15) night.

The Illini were sent to the Lexington Regional hosted by overall No. 9 seed Kentucky and will face Utah (32-19) at 10 a.m. CT on Friday (May 20) in the opening round at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington, Ky. The double-elimination regional will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the host Wildcats (43-12) taking on Butler (28-22) in the other first round contest at 12:30 p.m.

Illini Notes

MAKING HISTORY

• Illinois is making their fifth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and owns a 7-8 record in postseason play with appearances in 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010. The Illini have advanced to the Regional Final once in program history, falling to No. 3 seed LSU in the Waco, Texas Regional in 2004.
• The Illini finished the first regular season under head coach Tyra Perry with a 34-20 overall record and a seventh place finish in the Big Ten Conference with a 12-11 mark in the standings. 
• The Illini's 35 wins sits as fifth most in program history and is the most wins the team has notched since posting 45 victories during the 2010 campaign, also the last season the Illini earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 35-21 mark is also the best start ever by any first year Illinois softball or baseball head coach.
• The Illini's 35 wins this season ranks as the third-most wins in the Big Ten behind Michigan (46) and Minnesota (41).
• The Illini have won 30 games in a season for the first time since posting 45 victories during the 2010 campaign.

HOW WE GOT HERE

• The Illini come into postseason play on a hot streak as they ended the regular season by winning four-straight Big Ten series and have lost just four games since April 15, winning 12 of their last 16 contests, including eight of their last 10.
• The Orange and Blue own an RPI of 47 heading into the NCAA Tournament and have registered six wins over top-50 teams (Florida State, Nebraska x2, North Carolina, Long Beach State, Tulsa). 
• 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.  
• Illinois earned a series win over then-No. 24 Nebraska with a doubleheader sweep on March 26. With the series win, Illinois ended an impressive streak for the Huskers as NU had not lost a Big Ten road series in the last three seasons, with its last league road series lost coming in May of 2012.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Illini entered the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 7 seed and advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament, hosted by Penn State in University Park, Pa., on May 12-14. UI opened the three-day event with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Michigan State to earn UI's first Big Ten Tournament win since 2014 in dramatic fashion. Down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning against the Spartans, the Illinois softball team rallied to score three runs in a walk-off win on an RBI single from sophomore Carly Thomas and a pair of MSU errors on at-bats from seniors Kylie Johnson and Allie Bauch, who notched an RBI on the game-winning play. 
• The Illini then fell to eventual tournament champion and No. 2 seed Minnesota as Sara Groenewegen (28-5) held the Illini to just one hit and three walks and struck out nine in a 2-0 shutout win. After giving up the game's first run in the fourth, the Illini looked to rally in the sixth as junior Alyssa Gunther broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single to right center and advanced to third to put the tying run just 60 feet from home plate. UI could not capitalize on the opportunity as the Gophers added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to seal the victory. 

EVANS, BAUCH, WONDERLY NAMED NFCA ALL-REGION

• A trio of Illini earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Midwest Region honors on Thursday with junior Nicole Evans being named to the First-Team, Bauch earning Second-Team accolades and junior Breanna Wonderly collecting Third-Team honors. This is the third-straight season Bauch has been selected as an All-Midwest Region honoree after earning Third-Team honors as a sophomore and Second-Team accolades as a junior. It is the first honor for both Evans and Wonderly. The trio now becomes eligible for selection to the 2016 NFCA Division I All-American squads.   

ILLINI QUARTET GARNER B1G POSTSEASON HONORS

• The Big Ten Conference announced its postseason honors with a quartet of Illini earning All-Big Ten accolades. Bauch and Evans were each named Second-Team All-Big Ten honors, Thomas and Bauch garnered spots on the All-Defensive Team and sophomore Jill Nicklas was selected as the Illini's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Recipient. 

FLEMING, BAUCH EARN COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT ACCOLADES

• For just the second time in program history, Illinois had a pair of representatives on the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District First-Team as Bauch and sophomore Annie Fleming each garnered a spot on the District Five First-Team. A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, Bauch is just the third Illini softball player to collect the accolade twice in her career, while it was the first CoSIDA Academic All-District honor for Fleming. 

WONDERLY WONDERFUL IN THE CIRCLE

• Wonderly has pitched just under 80 percent of the team's innings in conference action with a league-leading 115.2 frames and 17 starts, which sits second the Big Ten. Wonderly's nine wins in B1G play ranked in a tie for third in the conference, while her 2.28 ERA in Big Ten action came in as seventh-best and her 37 strikeouts finished in a tie for 12th in the league.
• For the season, Wonderly has thrown for 199.2 innings, which ranks fourth-most in the conference, with her 30 starts coming in tied for fourth-most in the league and her team-leading 16 wins ranking sixth in the Big Ten and her 2.91 ERA sitting 10th in the conference.

ILLINI PACING B1G IN TRIPLES

• With 19 triples on the season, the Illini lead the Big Ten and rank fifth in the NCAA with 0.34 three-baggers per game. Individually, Fleming leads the Illini, ranks second in the Big Ten and sits 14th in the NCAA with five on the season, while Bauch and Evans is right behind Fleming with three triples this season to rank in a tie for fifth in the conference.
• The Illini's 19 triples sets a program record for triples in a season, passing the previous record of 15 in 2005.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

• The Illini rank third in the conference with 79 doubles on the season and rank 66th in the country with 1.41 two-baggers per game. Evans paces the Illini, ranks fourth in the league and is 71st in the NCAA with 16 two-baggers on the season and 0.29 doubles per game.

HOME RUN QUEEN

• Evans has knocked a team-high 12 homers in 2016, upping her career total to 35, which ranks fourth in program history. She also owns a career slugging percentage of .636, which ranks as the highest slugging percentage in program history.

TEAM RANKINGS

• Nationally, the Illini also rank 54th in batting average (.306), 67th in slugging percentage (.460), 70th in scoring (5.29) and 66th in win-loss percentage (.625).
• UI leads the conference with 689 total bases and 43 sacrifice bunts and ranks in the top four in hits (third, 458), batting average (fourth, .306) and sacrifice flies (t-fourth, 13).

ILLINI ON THE BASE PATHS

• The Illini pace the Big Ten and rank 42nd in the nation with 87 stolen bases and a 1.55 stolen base per game average. 
• Johnson leads the Illini and ranks in a tie for sixth in the Big Ten with 18 stolen bases on the year. 
• It was a busy night on the base paths for the Illini against Indiana State on May 4 as UI set a program record with eight stolen bases. Senior Danielle Trezzo led the way with three stolen bases, which equals the program record for stolen bases in a single contest. 

TURNING TWO

• Defensively, the Illini have fielded 26 double plays in 2016 and rank second in the conference and 24th in the NCAA with 0.46 double plays turned per game. Individually, Gunther sits third in the league with 17 double plays fielded, while Bauch ranks in a tie for fifth with 14 and junior Ruby Rivera is tied for 12th with 11 on the season. 

RUNS, RUNS AND MORE RUNS

• The Illini, who have posted 10 run-rule victories this season, are outscoring their opponents 296-208 and are averaging just over five runs per game.  

500TH WIN IN PROGRAM HISTORY

• 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.

BRODNER ON BASE

• Redshirt-freshman Emily Brodner is currently riding a 10-game reached base streak, while Fleming hold the Illini record for the season at 18 games. 

MULTIPLES

• Thomas leads the Illini with 19 multi-hit games, including three three-hit contests, while Evans paces UI with 14 multi-RBI games this season, with three four-RBI contests and three three-RBI games to her name.

NEXT UP

The winner of the Lexington NCAA Regional will advance to the Super Regional round on May 26-29 on select campus sites.