Illini Continue Homestand Against Purdue in B1G Weekend Series

Friday, April 7

Champaign, Ill.

5 p.m. CT

University of Illinois

Purdue

Illini Continue Homestand Against Purdue in B1G Weekend Series

April 6, 2017 | Softball

Strikeout Cancer Day set for Saturday, Kids Takeover the Ballpark Day on Sunday

Illinois (24-10, 4-2 Big Ten) vs. Purdue (15-23, 4-2 Big Ten)
When & Where	April 7-9, 2017 // Friday: 5 p.m. CT // Saturday: 1 p.m. // Sunday: 12 p.m. // Eichelberger Field // Urbana, Ill.
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Live Video: BTN Plus (Friday & Saturday) FightingIllini.com (Sunday)
Full Game Notes	Illinois
Statistics	Illinois \| Purdue
Series History	Illinois leads, 21-15 // Last: W, 10-6; 4/17/2016; West Lafayette, Ind. // Streak: Won 1
Social Media	@IlliniSB \| #Illini \| Facebook \| @IlliniSB \| YouTube

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Following Wednesday's postponed doubleheader with Northwestern, the Fighting Illini softball team returns to action in a promotion-filled weekend, hosting Purdue in a three-game Big Ten Conference series at Eichelberger Field on April 7-9. The Illini and the Boilermakers are set for a 5 p.m. CT start on Friday, followed by a 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday and a 12 p.m. game on Sunday.

In the most recent NCAA softball RBI, released on Monday (April 3), the Illini came in at the No. 23 spot. The Illini, who's season-high mark of No. 22 came in the season's first ranking, sit as the third-highest Big Ten team behind No. 11 Minnesota and No. 18 Michigan. Also highlighting the Top 25 list are Illini opponents No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 Auburn, No. 10 LSU, No. 14 California and No. 25 Missouri.

Last weekend, the Illini had their nine-game winning streak snapped by then-No. 6 Minnesota, dropping its first Big Ten series of the season, 2-1. It was a rough start to the series with the Gophers taking game one, 12-0 in five innings on Friday night. The Illini rebounded with 4-3 walkoff win on Saturday as junior Annie Fleming's double in the bottom of the seventh inning snapped a 15-game losing streak to Minnesota. UM then took the series with a 4-0 win on Sunday.

Saturday's win over the No. 6 Gophers was the Illini's first win over a ranked opponent of the season and first top-10 win since defeating No. 10 Florida State a season ago. Saturday's victory also goes down as the just the eighth top-10 win in program history and ties for the third-highest ranked opponent that UI has defeated.

The Illini own a 5-2 mark at Eichelberger Field this season, winning their first four games of the season at home before dropping two of three contests against then-No. 6 Minnesota last weekend.

PROMOTIONS

Saturday // Strike Out Cancer Day

Saturday will be Strike Out Cancer Day at Eichelberger Field, with a free pink headband and cancer ribbon memorial giveaways for fans, as well as a free raffle for an autographed game ball and post-game autographs.

Sunday // Kids Take Over the Ball Park Day

Sunday is Kids Take over the Ball Park Day, with kids taking over a number of ballpark duties throughout the game, including announcing, concessions, event staff & collecting foul balls and field raking. There will also be free Papa Johns pizza for the first 200 fans and a post-game youth clinic. Register HERE for Sunday's events.

ILLINI NOTES

The Illini have or will take on six teams in the USA Today/NFCA Top-25 Poll (No. 2 Oregon, No. 5 Auburn, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 LSU, No. 24 Missouri, No. T25. Ohio State) as well as five teams who are recieving votes (Wisconsin, California, North Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Nebraska). There are seven Illini opponents in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top-25 Poll (No. 1 Oregon, No. 6 Auburn, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 LSU, No. 21 California, No. T21 Ohio State, No. 25 Missouri), with two teams receiving votes (North Carolina, Wisconsin).
The Illini have played the 17th-toughest schedule in 2017, with their future competition ranking 67th-toughest in the NCAA. Between both past and future opposition, the Illini hold the 26th-toughest schedule in the country.
For the third time this season and the second-straight week, the Fighting Illini received votes in both polls, garnering four votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top-25 Poll and nine votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
Senior Nicole Evans knocked her 12th home run of the season against Illinois State on March 29, pushing her career total to 47 and moving her within four dingers of Angelena Mexicano's career record of 51.
With two RBIs against ISU, Evans moved into a tie for second with Hollie Pinchback with 159 career RBIs, just five away from Mexicano's career mark of 164.
Despite the Gophers snapping their season-long nine-game winning streak (March 18-31), the Fighting Illini have won 10 of their last 12 contests.
Individually, senior Alyssa Gunther owns a nine-game reached base streak. For the season, sophomore Stephanie Abello holds both the longest reached-base streak (14 games) and hitting streak (11 games) on the team.
Senior pitcher Breanna Wonderly tossed just the 12th no-hitter in program history in a 8-0 five-inning win over Iowa in the Illini's Big Ten Conference opener on March 24. It was the first career no-hitter for the senior, who capped the victory with her fourth strikeout of the game.
The Illini rank in the top 55 in the nation in several offensive categories, including ranking 24th in slugging percentage with a .491 clip and 31st in scoring with an average of 5.94 runs per game. UI also sits 30th in home runs per game (0.97), 34th in batting average (.315), 41st in doubles (1.47) and 52nd in triples (0.24).
Junior Annie Fleming ranks second in the Big Ten and eighth in the NCAA with 13 doubles on the season and is 13th with 0.38 doubles per game.
Senior Nicole Evans has been a juggernaut at the plate and ranks in the top 20 in the nation in several categories, including eighth in home runs (12), 10th in home runs per game (0.35), 12th in RBI (41), total bases (88) and slugging percentage (.880) and 17th in RBI per game (1.21).
Sophomore Stephanie Abello also ranks 32nd with nine homers on the season and is 39th with 0.27 homers per game.
Senior Breanna Wonderly owns three saves on the season to rank 12th in the nation and tied for first in the Big Ten in that category.
Sophomore Taylor Edwards' team-high 11 wins ranks fifth in the conference, with her ERA of 2.10 sitting eighth in the conference and 127th in the NCAA.
Senior Ruby Rivera is ranked as the 63rd toughest to strikeout with only four strikeouts in 91 at-bats in 2017.
In the Big Ten, the Illini rank in the top five in almost every offensive category, including sitting second in hits (295), total bases (460) and sacrifice bunts (23), third in runs (202), doubles (50) and triples (eight), fourth in batting average (.315), RBI (176) and home runs (33) and fifth in slugging percentage (.492) and stolen bases 32).
The Illini have two players that rank in the top 15 in the conference in batting average, with senior Nicole Evans ranking 13th with a .380 average and junior Annie Fleming sitting right behind her in 14th with a .378 average.
The duo along with sophomore Stephanie Abello also rank in the top 15 in slugging percentage with Evans leading the way in fourth with a .880 average, Abello eighth at .694 and Fleming tying for 13th at .649.