Tuesday, April 23
Evanston, Ill.
2 p.m. CT
University of Illinois
at
Northwestern
Illini Head North For BTN Doubleheader at Northwestern
April 22, 2019 | Softball
| Games 45-46: Illinois (27-17, 6-9 B1G) vs. No. 23/18/20 Northwestern (36-7, 15-0 B1G) | |
|---|---|
| When & Where | April 23, 2019 // 2 & 4:30 p.m. CT // Drysdale Field // Evanston, Ill. |
| Game Coverage | Live Stats | TV: BTN | Live Video: BTN Plus | Live Audio: WDWS 1400 |
| Full Game Notes | Illinois |
| Statistics | Illinois | Northwestern |
| Series History |
Illinois trails, 13-27 // Last: W, 15-9; 3/28/2018; Urbana, Ill. // Streak Won 1 |
| Tickets | BUY HERE |
| Social Media | @IlliniSB  | #Illini | Facebook  | @IlliniSB  | YouTube 
|
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois softball team next heads out for a five-game road swing - their final road trip of the regular season - starting with a doubleheader against No. 23/18/20 Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on Tuesday (April 23), before traveling to Columbus, Ohio, for a three-game series at Ohio State on April 26-28.
ILLINI NOTES
- The Illini are coming off of a tough weekend, falling in all three games against No. 22 Michigan despite a hard-fought effort. The Illini dropped a pitcher's duel on Friday (April 19) night, 2-1, before suffering a 9-8 heartbreaker that saw the Illini hold an 8-5 advantage in the seventh inning and the Wolverines down to their final out before rallying for the win. The series then ended with a 16-5 setback on Sunday.
- Behind four home runs and 11 hits, the Illinois softball team earned a 13-4 five-inning, run-rule victory over SIUE on a sun-and wind-filled Wednesday April 17 evening at Eichelberger Field. The four dingers hit ties for the ninth-most in a single game in program history. It was the eighth time in program history that the Illini hage registered four homers, with the last time coming at Nebraska on May 2, 2015.
- The 2019 season marks the 20th season for the Illinois softball program, with the Illini owning a 58.4 winning percentage as a program and earned their landmark 600th win in the first game of the 2019 season - a 7-4 win over No. 22 Oklahoma State - and own a 626-446-2 overall record.
- The Illini own a 21-10 record in nonconference action and are 8-4 at Eichelberger Field. On the road, the Illini hold a 9-3 advantage on the road.
- In the latest NCAA softball PRI that was released on Monday (April 22), the Illini came in the No. 45 spot, after holding at No. 20 during the first two rankings and No. 36 in two rankings and a No. 43 ranking last week.
MICHIGAN SERIES STAT SHOUTOUTS
- Redshirt-senior Annie Fleming led the Illini with a .400 batting average at the plate, with four hits and two runs.
- Senior Kiana Sherlund and redshirt-senior Carly Thomas equaled Fleming's team-high of four hits, while also pacing the squad with six total bases each, with the duo combining for five runs, four doubles and three RBI.
- Senior Veronica Ruelius turned in a team-high four RBI on the weekend, with two hits - including the lone Illini home run and one of six doubles the team registered, and added two runs.
ILLINI IN THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE
- The Illini own a 201-178 record in the Big Ten Conference and registered their 200th conference win in a 12-1 five-inning win at Iowa on April 12.
- After opening the conference slate with a series win over No. 23 Wisconsin, the Illini had suffered back-to-back series losses, before coming away with a 2-1 series win at Iowa over the weekend. The Illini own a 6-6 mark in league play halfway through conference action, with four more series left in the season.
- The Illini opened the Big Ten Conference schedule with a series win over No. 23 Wisconsin on March 22-24 - taking two of three at Eichelberger Field. After a slow start to the weekend that saw the Illini fall 15-6 on Friday, UI bounced back with a 2-0 shutout win on Saturday behind a strong outing in the circle from senior Taylor Edwards. The Illini then used a three-run seventh inning rally – capped by freshman Kailee Powell's walk-off single – to earn a 6-5 come-from-behind victory in Sunday's series finale.
- The Illini secured their second Big Ten Conference series of the season with a 2-1 record in a road series at Iowa on April 12-13. Powered by grand slams from sophomore Katie Wingerter and redshirt-senior Carly Thomas, the Illinois softball team opened the series at Iowa with a 12-1 five-inning, run-rule victory on Friday, before earning a doubleheader split on Saturday, taking a come-from-behind 12-11 win in game one, before falling 4-3 in eight innings in game two.
ILLINI AT THE PLATE
- As a team, the Illini pace the Big Ten Conference in batting average (.323), slugging percentage (.519), hits (399), doubles (81) and total bases (642), while also ranking second in runs (266) and home runs (50), third in RBI (229) and sac bunts (29) and fourth in on-base percentage (.398).
- Nationally, the Illini rank in the top 35 in the NCAA in doubles per game (fourth, 1.84), batting average (15th), slugging percentage (22nd), scoring (27th, 6.05) and home runs per game (32nd, 1.14).
- Sophomore Bella Loya ranks nationally in several offensive categories, including RBI (46), total bases (30th, 105), RBI per game (38th, 1.05), hits (40th, 57), slugging percentage (57th, .745), batting average (72nd, .404) and home runs per game (72nd, 0.27).
- Senior Kiana Sherlund ranks 30th with a team-leading 59 hits on the season, while Loya and redshirt-senior Carly Thomas are right behind her with 57 hits on the season to rank 40th in the country, with Sherlund also sitting 32nd in runs per game (1.00).
- Loya is the Big Ten co-leader with 46 RBI and is fourth in the league in batting average (.404), slugging percentage (.745) and hits (57), while also sitting in the top 10 in the conference in home runs (t-fifth, 12), on-base percentage (eighth, .472), total bases (ninth, 105) and doubles (t-12th, 12).
- The Illini have four players - the most of any school - ranked in the top 15 in the Big Ten in batting average, with Loya (.404) leading the way in fourth, Sherlund (.386) in sixth, redshirt-senior Annie Fleming (.376) in 11th and Thomas (.375) in 12th.
- The quartet also ranks in the top 10 in the Big Ten in hits, with Sherlund leading in third with 59 knocks, Loya and Thomas in fourth with 57 hits and Fleming in seventh with 56 hits.
SICKELS LEADING IN THE CIRCLE
- Freshman Sydney Sickels leads the Illini in the circle with a 3.21 ERA in 133.0 innings and ranks fifth in the Big Ten and is 32nd in the country with 17 wins and is second in the league and 15th in the NCAA with four saves on the season.
- With four saves on the season, Sickels ties three other Illini - Amanda Fortune (2004), Claire DeVreese (2005) and Breanna Wonderly (2017) - for the most saves registered in a season.
- Sickels also ranks in the top 15 in the Big Ten in appearances (35, fourth), games started (22, t-sixth), innings pitched (eighth), strikeouts looking (24, t-11th) and strikeouts (96, 12th).
THOMAS IS DOUBLE TROUBLE
- With three doubles in a win over UNI on March 1, redshirt-senior Carly Thomas became the career doubles leader at Illinois after passing Erin Montgomery's (2011-14) total of 52 two-baggers and currently owns 66 in her Illini career.
- Along with the career record, Thomas registered her 20th double of the season in the second game of the April 13th doubleheader at Iowa to break Lana Armstrong's program mark of 19 two-baggers set during the 2008 campaign.
- Thomas leads the NCAA with her 22 two-baggers and is also first with 0.50 doubles per game.
SHERLUND NEARING TRIPLES RECORD
- Senior Kiana Sherlund owns 12 career triples and is just two three-baggers away from tying Rachelle Coriddi's program record of 14 from 2003-06.
Players Mentioned
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OF
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OF
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UT
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