CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois softball team is back on the road this weekend as it travels to Raleigh, North Carolina for the fifth annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge, hosted by NC State at Dail Softball Stadium on February 14-16. The Illini (4-0) will take on Notre Dame in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, before finishing the weekend with a pair of contests against the host Wolfpack on Saturday and Sunday.
It will be the first meeting between the Illini and both the Fighting Irish (3-2) and NC State (2-3).
Both NC State games will be streamed via ACCNX.
ILLINI NOTES
- In its fifth season, the Big Ten/ACC Softball Challenge will feature 10 schools from each conference, with each program playing four games each at five campus sites. The Big Ten and ACC have each won twice during the first four years of the Challenge. The Illini own a 9-3 record in the event after sweeping all four games against Boston College and Georgia Tech in the 2019 edition of the Challenge.
- The 2020 season marks the 21st season for the Illinois softball program, with the Illini owning a 636-454-2 (.583) record after earning their landmark 600th victory in the 2019 season opener - a 7-4 win over then-No. 22 Oklahoma State - while also holding a 204-184 (.526) mark in Big Ten Conference action.
- For the first time since 2017 and for the sixth time in program history, the Illinois softball team opened its season with four-straight wins as the Illini capped an undefeated weekend at the NFCA Leadoff Classic Presented by Rawlings at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla. The Illini opened the tournament with an 8-2 win over Liberty on Friday, before taking on the US National Team in an exhibition game later that night. UI then earned wins over No. 21 Ole Miss (3-1) and South Alabama (5-4) on Saturday, before finishing up the weekend with a 2-0 victory over No. 23 Auburn.
- The Illini were one of four teams to finish the weekend undefeated and were named tournament runner-up after Mississippi State claimed the tournament championship due to run differential. Sophomore Sydney Sickels was named to the All-Tournament Team after going 2-0 with two saves and a 0.00 ERA in 15.2 innings. Sickels saw action in all four games for the Illini and totaled 14 strikeouts.
- After a 4-0 weekend, the Illini received votes in both the USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.
- After a dominating weekend in the circle, Sickels earned the season's first Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honor, the conference announced on Monday (Feb. 10).
- Sophomores Danielle Davis and Shelby Stauffenberg also had standout weekends, starting all four games and hitting .364 and .308, respectively, while combining for nine RBI, eight hits, two doubles, one home run and three runs. Davis also registered the Illini's first home run of the season with a grand slam in the seventh inning against Liberty. It was the sophomore's first career home run.
- Head Tyra Perry enters her 19th season as a NCAA Division I head coach and fifth at the helm of the Illinois softball program. Perry owns a 558-474-1 (.541) career record and is 149-86 (.634) at Illinois. Perry earned her 500th career win as a Division 1 softball head coach with a 5-3 win over Cal Poly on March 17, 2018.
ILLINI TO HOST 2020 BIG TEN SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
- Illinois softball will be hosting the 2020 Big Ten Softball Tournament at Eichelberger Field for the first time in program history on May 7-9. The annual tournament features the top-12 teams in the conference in a single-elimination competition. Play begins on Thursday with four first round games, with four quarterfinals contests following on Friday. Competition will then conclude on Saturday with two semifinal games followed by the championship game.
