Friday, March 30
Minneapolis, Minn.
1 p.m. CT
University of Illinois
at
Minnesota
Illini Head North for B1G Weekend Series at Minnesota
March 29, 2018 | Softball
Illinois and Gophers to play doubleheader Friday, single game Sunday
| Games 34-36: Illinois (22-11, 3-2 B1G) at Minnesota (18-13, 1-2 B1G) | |
|---|---|
| When & Where | March 30 & April 1, 2018 // Friday: 1 & 3 p.m. CT | Sunday: 12 p.m. CT // Jane Sage Cowles Stadium // Minneapolis, Minn. |
| Game Coverage | Live Stats: Game 1 // Game 2 // Game 3 | Live Video: BTN2Go |
| Full Game Notes | Illinois |
| Statistics | Illinois | Minnesota |
| Series History |
Illinois trails, 19-22 // Last: L, 6-5; 5/13/2017; Ann Arbor, Mich. // Streak Lost 2 |
| Tickets | Single Game: $15 Chairback (depending on availability) | $10 General Admission | BUY HERE |
| Social Media | @IlliniSB  | #Illini | Facebook  | @IlliniSB  | YouTube 
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illini hit the road for a three-game conference series at Minnesota this weekend on March 30 and April 1 in Minneapolis, Minn. With frigid temperatures forecasted for Saturday, the Illini and Gophers will now play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 1 p.m. CT in Jane Sage Cowles Stadium, before wrapping the series with a 12 p.m. contest on Sunday.
ILLINI NOTES
- The Illini had another strong week of play last week with a 5-1 record that included a sweep of UIC, a run-rule victory at SIUE and a Big Ten series win at Purdue and continued that play with a doubleheader split of Northwestern on Wednesday.
- The Illini have won 13 of their last 16 games, with the only setbacks coming against Cal Poly and Big Ten foes, Purdue and Northwestern.
- In the latest NCAA softball RPI that was released on Monday (March 26), the Illini came in at the No. 52 spot.
- The 2018 season marks the 19th season for the Illinois softball program, with the Illini owning a 58.0 winning percentage as a program with a 584-422 -2 overall record, with Saturday's second game against Cal Poly marking the 1,000 game Illini softball has played. In Big Ten conference action, the Illini also hold a 185-164 (.530) mark.
ILLINI SPLIT RAINY DOUBLEHEADER WITH WILDCATS
- For the first time since the 2015 season, Illinois earned a win over Northwestern as the Illini split their Big Ten Conference doubleheader with the Wildcats on a rainy Wednesday (March 28) at Eichelberger Field. The Illini dropped the opener, 8-7, before rebounding for a 15-9 victory in game two.
- The Illini last defeated the Wildcats on April 22, 2015 in Evanston, with the last win at Eichelberger Field coming on May 1, 2011.
- Junior Stephanie Abello led the Illini offense with a .800 average on the day, including four hits, three runs and five RBI. Redshirt-junior Carly Thomas added a team-high seven RBI with four hits, including two home runs and a double, and three runs. Seniors Maddi Doane and Sam Acosta also totaled four hits and four runs on the day.
LAST WEEK STANDOUTS
- Senior Maddi Doane paced the Illini with a .526 batting average with 10 hits - including two doubles and three home runs - as well as a team-high 10 RBI and seven runs in the last six games over the past week.
- Redshirt-junior Carly Thomas registered a .500 batting average with a team-high 11 hits, including four doubles, a triple and two home runs, while also totaling a team-high off 11 runs and eight RBI. She notched team-highs of 23 total bases, a 1.045 slugging percentage and a .577 on-base percentage, as well as going two-for-three in stolen base attempts.
- Junior Taylor Edwards registered a 2-0 record with a team-best 2.93 ERA after giving up just six earned runs on 10 hits and striking out 11 in 14.1 innings. Edwards allowed just two multi-base knocks as opponents batted at a .196 clip against the Arcola, Ill., native.
DINGERS FOR DAYS
- The Illini have registered 33 home runs this season and have knocked at least one home run in 11 of the last 13 games - including hitting three in each game of Wednesday's doubleheader against Northwestern and also posted an eight-game span that ran from the second game against Missouri on March 14 to SIUE on March 21.
- In the last two weeks or eight games, the Illini have totaled 17 home runs, including hitting a season-high five dingers in game one against UIC on March 21.
- Freshman Bella Loya owns a team-high six home runs, with senior Maddi Doane and redshirt-junior Carly Thomas sitting right behind her with five each. Freshman Maddison Demers has also knocked four dingers this season, while juniors Kiana Sherlund and Stephanie Abello each have three in 2018.
HEAD COACH TYRA PERRY EARNS 500TH CAREER WIN
- With a 5-3 win over Cal Poly on March 17, head coach Tyra Perry earned her 500th career win as a Division 1 softball head coach. In her 17th season as a head coach, Perry owns a 505-441-1 overall record for a 53.4 winning percentage.
- In her third season at the helm of the Illinois softball program, Perry is just four wins from marking her 100th in Champaign and is 96-53 (.644) during her time in the Orange and Blue.
SHERLUND STAYING HOT
- Junior Kiana Sherlund has been an offensive catalyst for the Illini this season, leading UI and ranking fourth in the Big Ten with a .402 batting average. The junior also paces the squad with 51 hits, 31 runs, six triples and 75 total bases.
- The junior sits in the top 15 in several offensive categories in the Big Ten, including leading the league in hits, runs, triples and total bases, ranking fourth in batting average, eighth in RBIs and tied for 11th in stolen bases and 15th in slugging percentage.
- Her six three-baggers this season ranks third in the nation as well as tied for second-most in program history, while also ranking sixth with 0.18 triples per game. Sherlund is just one triple off the program record set by Rachelle Coriddi in 2005.
- Sherlund also ranks third with 31 hits in the NCAA, as well as 25th with 75 total bases and 58th with 0.94 runs per game.
- She owns a team-high 17 multiple-hit games - including three three-hit contests and one four-hit game - as well as six multiple-RBI games this season, highlighted by four-RBI performances in wins over Murray State on March 3 and UIC on March 20.
ILLINI AT THE PLATE
- The Illini lead the Big Ten in 10 offensive categories, including batting average (.336), slugging percentage (.520), on-base percentage (.399), runs scored (220), hits (319), RBI (198), doubles (54), triples (11), home runs (33) and total bases (494)
- Nationally, the Illini rank 10th in batting average, 13th in slugging percentage, 19th in triples per game (0.33), 26th in on-base percentage, 21st in doubles per game (1.64) and 23rd in home runs per game (1.00).
- The Illini are averaging 6.67 runs per game to rank ninth in scoring in the NCAA.
- Redshirt-junior Carly Thomas paces the nation with 14 doubles on the season, while also ranking 11th in doubles per game (0.42), 27th in sacrifice flies (3), 36th in total bases (73) and 64th in RBI per game (0.97).
- In the Big Ten, Thomas also ranks in the top 15 in sac flies (t-second, 3), runs (t-third, 30), total bases (third, 73), RBI (third, 32), hits (fourth, 42), slugging percentage (sixth, .652), batting average (ninth, .375), and home runs (t-ninth, 5).
- Along with Sherlund and Thomas, the Illini have five players in the top 15 in batting average in the Big Ten with seniors Maddi Doane (fifth, .392), Sam Acosta (seventh, .380) and junior Stephanie Abello (.371) joining the duo in the rankings.
Players Mentioned
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