Big Ten Tournament | Game 54: No. 9 Illinois (31-22, 9-14 B1G) vs. No. 8 Nebraska (21-30, 9-14 B1G)
When & Where	May 9-11, 2019 // Thursday: 12:30 p.m. CT // Andy Mohr Field // Bloomington, Ind.
Game Coverage	Live Stats // TV: BTN | BTN2Go.com // Radio: WDWS 1400 // Tournament Central
Full Game Notes	Illinois | Nebraska
Statistics	Illinois | Nebraska
Series History	Illinois trails, 10-15 // Last: L, 5-4; 3/31/2019; Lincoln, Neb. // Streak Lost 1
Tickets	Ticket Information | Parking Map
Social Media	@IlliniSB  | #Illini  | Facebook  | @IlliniSB  | YouTube

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - After finishing up the regular season over the past weekend, the Illinois softball team next sets its focus on the 2019 Big Ten Softball Tournament, hosted by Indiana University on May 9-11 in Bloomington, Ind. The ninth-seeded Illini will take on eighth seed Nebraska in the first round on Thursday (May 9) at 12:30 p.m. CT at Andy Mohr Field. 

ILLINI NOTES

• The Illini own a 11-16 overall record in the annual tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals as the No. 6 seed last season with a 5-3 win over 11th seeded Maryland in the first round, before falling to No. 3 seeded Indiana, 2-1, on a walk-off home run in the seventh inning.
• The Illini earned the ninth seed in the Big Ten Tournament for just the second time in program history (2014) and hold a 1-1 as the No. 9 seeded team in the tournament. UI earned a program-best second seed in 2004, with that season's runner-up finish also representing the best finish at the Big Ten Tournament in program history.
• The Illini concluded the regular season with an overall record of 31-22 and tied for an eighth place finish in the Big Ten Conference standings with a 9-14 mark. The Illini finished the season winning their last four contests in 2019, including a series sweep of Purdue in the teams' final Big Ten Conference series of the season last weekend.
• The Illini have reached at least 31 wins in each of head coach Tyra Perry's first four seasons, while it marks just the second time in program history that the Illini have registered a four-year span with at least 31 wins in each season after notching wins of 49, 34, 39 and 45, respectively, from 2001-04.
• 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 630-451-2 overall record.
• The Illini finished the 2019 regular season with a 12-7 record at home at Eichelberger Field, while posting a 9-8 mark on the road and a 10-7 record at neutral sites.  
• The Illini own a 204-183 record in the Big Ten Conference and registered their 200th conference win in  a 12-1 five-inning win at Iowa on April 12. 
• The Illini have won three conference series on the season, going 2-for-3 against No. 23 Wisconsin on March 22-24 and Iowa on April 12-13 and sweeping Purdue in the final weekend of the regular season, and finished 2019 with an 9-14 mark in league play.
• In the most recent NCAA softball RPI that was released on Monday (May 6), the Illini came in at the No. 44 spot and rank as the sixth-highest team in the league in the rankings. No. 8 Minnesota leads the conference, with No. 11 Northwestern, No. 16 Michigan, No. 37 Ohio State and No. 38 Wisconsin sitting ahead of the Illini. 

ILLINI QUARTET EARN BIG TEN POSTSEASON HONORS

• A quartet of Illinois softball student-athletes collected postseason honors when the Big Ten Conference announced its All-Big Ten accolades on Wednesday (May 8) afternoon, with sophomore Bella Loya and senior Kiana Sherlund nabbing First-Team plaudits. Redshirt-senior Carly Thomas was a Big Ten All-Second Team and All-Defensive Team selection, while senior Veronica Ruelius was honored Illinois' Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient.
• Loya picks up her first all-conference selection after being named the Big Ten All-Freshman Team a season ago, while Sherlund becomes just the fourth Illini to collect multiple conference first-team honors with her second-straight first-team selection. 
• With her accolades, Thomas now becomes a three-time All-Big Ten honoree after earning first-team plaudits as a freshman and redshirt-junior as well as a three-time All-Defensive Team selection.

PURDUE SERIES STAT SHOUTOUTS

• The Illini earned a series sweep in its final Big Ten Conference series of the season, taking all three contests against Purdue over the weekend. The Illini outscored the Boilermakers, 30-15, while totaling four doubles and five home runs on the weekend. 
• Trailing at 7-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth in Saturday's Senior Day contest, the Illini put on an offensive show in the frame with nine runs on eight hits, including back-to-back-back home runs from sophomore Shelby Stauffenberg, freshman Kailee Powell and senior Alexis Carrillo, as well as RBI hits from sophomore Bella Loya,  redshirt-senior Carly Thomas and senior Veronica Ruelius to propel the home team to an 11-7 lead and eventually an 11-9 win.
• Ruelius led the Illini with a .667 batting average and turned in team-highs of seven RBI, six hits – including two doubles and a home run – and 11 total bases, as well as posting two runs and three walks. She also recorded a 1.222 slugging percentage, a .750 on-base percentage and a 1.000 fielding percentage on the weekend.
• Redshirt-senior Annie Fleming was right behind Ruelius with a .625 batting average with five hits and team-highs of seven runs and four walks. 
• Redshirt-senior Carly Thomas also contributed five RBI with a 5-for-10 effort at the plate to go along with four runs and a stolen base.

SICKELS BREAKS SINGLE SEASON SAVES PROGRAM RECORD

• Freshman Sydney Sickels earned her fifth save on Friday (May 3) night as she pitched a scoreless final two and a third innings as the Illini opened their final Big Ten Conference regular season series with a 7-2 win over Purdue on Friday (May 3) night at Eichelberger Field. 
• With her fifth save of the season, Sickels broke the Illinois single season record for saves previously held by Amanda Fortune (2004), Claire DeVreese (2005) and Breanna Wonderly (2017).

ILLINI AT THE PLATE

• As a team, the Illini pace the Big Ten Conference in batting average (.319), slugging percentage (.520), hits (462), doubles (93) and total bases (752), while also ranking second in on-base percentage (.400) and runs (311), third in RBI (272), home runs (61).
• Nationally, the Illini rank in the top 30 in the NCAA in doubles per game (fifth, 1.75), batting average (16th), slugging percentage (19th), scoring (28th, 5.87), on-base percentage (28th) and  home runs per game (30th, 1.15). 
• Along with leading the nation in doubles, redshirt-senior Carly Thomas also ranks 40th with 114 total bases and 35th with 67 hits. 
• Senior Kiana Sherlund also sits 23rd in the NCAA with 17 doubles and is tied with Thomas in 35th with 67 hits, while also ranking 45th with 0.96 runs per game.
• Loya and Sherlund lead the Illini in batting average in overall action and conference play, with Loya ranking seventh in overall (.392) and 14th in the Big Ten (.387), while Sherlund is ninth in both overall (.376) and in league play (.400). 
• Loya also ranks tied for fourth in the conference in total bases (110), seventh in on-base percentage (.479) and RBI (48), ninth in hits (62) and slugging percentage (.696), t-10th in home runs (12) and 13th in doubles (12).
• The Illini have four players - the most of any school - ranked in the top 10 in the Big Ten in batting average, with Loya (.392) leading the way in seventh, redshirt-senior Annie Fleming (.377) in eighth, Sherlund (.376) in ninth and Thomas (.374) in 10th.
• The quartet also ranks in the top 10 in the Big Ten in hits, with Thomas and Sherlund leading in a tie for third with 67 knocks, Fleming just behind in sixth with 66 hits and Loya in ninth with 62 hits. 
• Senior Veronica Ruelius leads the Illini and ranks tied for eighth in the Big Ten with six home runs in conference action.

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 67 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 23 two-baggers and is also second with 0.43 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.