Friday, April 26
Columbus, Ohio
5 p.m. CT
University of Illinois
at
Ohio State
Illini Softball Travels to Ohio State for Final Regular Season Road Trip
April 25, 2019 | Softball
| Games 47-49: Illinois (27-19, 6-11 B1G) at Ohio State (29-14, 12-5 B1G) | |
|---|---|
| When & Where | April 26-28, 2019 // Friday: 5 p.m. CT | Saturday: 1 p.m. CT | Sunday: 12 p.m. CT // Buckeye Field // Columbus, Ohio |
| Game Coverage | Live Stats | Live Video: BTN Plus |
| Full Game Notes | Illinois |
| Statistics | Illinois | Ohio State |
| Series History |
Illinois trails, 11-17 // Last: L, 3-2; 5/7/2017; Urbana, Ill. // Streak Lost 1 |
| Tickets | FREE ADMISSION |
| Social Media | @IlliniSB  | #Illini | Facebook  | @IlliniSB  | YouTube 
|
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois softball team next heads out on its final road trip of the regular season as the Illini travel to Columbus, Ohio, for a three-game Big Ten Conference series at Ohio State on April 26-28. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT on Friday, 1 p.m. CT on Saturday and 12 p.m. CT on Sunday at Buckeye Field.
ILLINI NOTES
- Illinois suffered a doubleheader setback to No. 21 Northwestern on Tuesday (April 23) at Drysdale Field, falling 8-0 in five innings in game one, and 4-2 in game two.
- 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.
- The 2019 season marks the 20th season for the Illinois softball program, with the Illini owning a 58.3 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 626-448-2 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 9-5 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.
NORTHWESTERN DOUBLEHEADER STAT SHOUTOUTS
- Sophomore Bella Loya led the Illini at the dish against the Wildcats, posting a .600 batting average with three hits and one run.
- Senior Veronica Ruelius also posted a .400 batting average with two hits - one double, one home run - to go along with two RBI, one run, six total bases and a 1.200 slugging percentage.
ILLINI CLEAN UP AT 2019 OKSEE AWARDS
- The Illini softball team had a successful night at the Fighting Illini Oskee Awards Celebration on Monday (April 22) night, with senior Veronica Ruelius being named the Fighting Illini Spirit Award winner along with volleyball's Beth Prince.
- Senior Stephanie Abello took home a couple of academic honors, earning the Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award for the senior class with a 3.97 GPA in creative writing & Spanish and was the recipient of the Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship.
- Sophomore Bella Loya was named a Dike Eddleman Female Athlete of the Year finalist, while freshman Sydney Sickels was named a Female Freshman of the Year finalist.
- Junior Akilah Mouzon was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society.
- The Illini softball team as a whole once again received the Illini Life Skills Team Competition Award for its commitment to community service.
ILLINI AT THE PLATE
- As a team, the Illini pace the Big Ten Conference in batting average (.318), slugging percentage (.511), hits (407), doubles (83) and total bases (655), while also ranking third in home runs (51), runs (268) and RBI (231) and sac bunts (29) and fourth in on-base percentage (.393).
- Nationally, the Illini rank in the top 35 in the NCAA in doubles per game (fifth, 1.80), batting average (18th), slugging percentage (23rd), scoring (32nd, 5.83) and home runs per game (35th, 1.11).
- Sophomore Bella Loya ranks nationally in several offensive categories, including total bases (27th, 108), hits (32nd, 60), RBI per game (53rd, 1.00), batting average (60th, .411), slugging percentage (63rd, .740) and home runs per game (89th, 0.26).
- Senior Kiana Sherlund and Loya both rank 32nd with a team-leading 60 hits on the season, while redshirt-senior Carly Thomas is right behind the duo with 58 hits on the season to rank 45th in the country and classmate Annie Fleming sitting 49th with 57 knocks, with Sherlund also sitting 16th in doubles (16).
- Loya ranks in a tie for second with 108 total bases, third in the Big Ten with 46 RBI and 60 hits and fourth in the league in batting average (.411) and slugging percentage (.740), while also sitting in the top 15 in the conference in home runs (t-sixth, 12), on-base percentage (t-seventh, .476) and doubles (t-13th, 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 (.411) leading the way in fourth, Sherlund (.380) in seventh, Thomas (.369) in 12th and Fleming (.368) in 13th.
- The quartet also ranks in the top seven in the Big Ten in hits, with Sherlund and Loya leading in third with 60 knocks, Thomas in fifth with 58 hits and Fleming in sixth with 57 hits.
SICKELS LEADING IN THE CIRCLE
- Freshman Sydney Sickels leads the Illini in the circle with a 3.27 ERA in 139.0 innings and ranks fifth in the Big Ten and is 36th in the country with 17 wins and is second in the league and 16th 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 (36, fourth), games started (23, t-sixth), innings pitched (ninth), strikeouts looking (27, t-10th) and strikeouts (102, 11th).
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 0.48 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.
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