Garrett Acton
Baseball
Junior | Lemont, IL
Finance
Junior closer Garrett Acton worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning during last week's 5-2 win over Indiana State. Acton earned his 15th save and broke the Illinois record for saves in a season, previously held by now-professional Tyler Jay (2015) and Joey Gerber (2018). He earned his 16th save with one strikeout in the ninth and faced the minimum in Saturday's 3-1 victory over No. 19 Indiana. Acton leads the Big Ten and ranks second in the nation in saves (16).Â
Andy Fisher
Baseball
Graduate Student | Bowling Green, OH
Recreation, Sport & Tourism
Illinois senior Andy Fisher was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week following a dominant performance Friday against No. 19 Indiana. Fisher threw eight shutout innings to help Illinois win the series. Fisher limited Indiana to three hits and tied a season high with nine strikeouts, as the Illini handed Indiana its second shutout of the season in a 4-0 win. The left-hander allowed only two base runners to reach second base and retired 14 in a row from the third to seventh innings.
Sydney Sickels
Softball
Freshman | Indianola, IA
Kinesiology
Freshman Sydney Sickels pitched a scoreless final two and a third innings as the Illinois softball team opened its final Big Ten Conference regular season series with a 7-2 win over Purdue last Friday at Eichelberger Field. Sickels earned her fifth save and broke the Illinois single season record for saves, which was previously held by Amanda Fortune (2004), Claire DeVreese (2005) and Breanna Wonderly (2017).
