CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois softball team next faces off against No. 23 Missouri in a neutral-site midweek meeting on Wednesday (March 11) at the Lou Brock Sports Complex in St. Charles, Mo. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT on the campus of Lindenwood University.
Following the team's first midweek match-up of the season, the Illini will be set to open the home schedule with the Fighting Illini Tournament on Saturday-Sunday (March 14-15) at Eichelberger Field. The Illini will take on Green Bay and Bowling Green twice each in the two-day event.
The Illini trail in the all-time series with the Tigers, 3-10, and dropped both games in a doubleheader a season ago.
ILLINI NOTES
- The Illini are coming off a 2-2 weekend at the Red & Black Challenge, hosted by Louisville on March 6-8. The Illini opened the tournament with a 2-1 eight-inning win over the host Cardinals on Friday, before earning a 3-1 victory against Oakland on Saturday. The Illini then dropped both games on Sunday, with a 4-3 setback to Louisville, before falling 9-1 in six innings to Evansville.
- The 2020 season marks the 21st season for the Illinois softball program, with the Illini owning a 642-465-2 (.580) 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.
SICKELS EQUALS SINGLE GAME PROGRAM RECORD AGAIN WITH 13 STRIKEOUTS VS. OAKLAND
- The Illinois softball team got another outstanding performance in the circle as sophomore Sydney Sickels equaled the program record with 13 strikeouts en route to leading the Illini to a 3-1 win over Oakland on Saturday (March 7).
- Sickels previously tied the single game record of 13 strikeouts earlier this season against NC State on February 15, with former Illini Amanda Fortune setting the mark against Virginia Tech on March 18, 2001.
RED & BLACK CHALLENGE STANDOUTS
- Freshman Kelly Ryono led the Illini offense on the weekend with a .444 hitting percentage on four hits, while classmate Delaney Rummell paced the squad with four RBI - including knocking her team-leading fifth home run on Sunday against Louisville.
- Senior Maddy Adams added a 2-for-3 mark with a double and an RBI in three plate appearances over the weekend.
- In the circle, sophomore Addy Jarvis led with a 1.14 ERA with a 1-2 record in three appearances. She allowed just two earned runs while striking out 14 in 12.1 innings of work.
- Sickels totaled a team-high 23 strikeouts in 12.1 innings of action in Louisville as she tied the single game record for the second time with 13 strikeouts against Oakland on Saturday, before her second-straight double-digit strikeout outing with 10 against Louisville on Sunday.
MARTIN FAMILY GIFT LAUNCHES PLAN FOR ILLINOIS SOFTBALL FACILITY
- The University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics announced on Monday, Feb. 24 it will break ground on a new state-of-the-art indoor practice facility for the Fighting Illini softball program thanks to a $3 million lead naming gift from Rex Martin and his daughters, Ashley Martin and Alexis Martin-Klose. Their gift will honor their late wife and mother, Alice Martin. The facility, pending Board of Trustees approval, will be named the Rex and Alice A. Martin Softball Training Center.
- The new $6 million Rex and Alice A. Martin Softball Training Center will provide a premier indoor performance and development facility for Fighting Illini softball student-athletes. The structure, measuring approximately 13,000 square feet, will be constructed as an addition to the existing softball clubhouse and will include a full infield as well as hitting and pitching cages. The center's ability to host full infield practice will be rare among comparable softball training facilities. Other features include a new recruiting lobby and hall of fame, an expanded player lounge, increased storage, and improved parking. Project construction is expected to commence in late 2020 and will conclude in December 2021.
JUDI GARMAN CLASSIC RECAP
- The Illini wrapped up the Judi Garman Classic with a 1-4 record, with the weekend highlighted by a 5-0 win over Colorado State on Friday, Feb. 28.
- Junior Bella Loya led the Illini offense with a .333 batting average with six hits, including two doubles and a home run, two runs, two RBI and 11 total bases, while sophomore Avrey Steiner also knocked six hits - with two of them going as doubles - for a .316 batting average and scored three runs. Junior Shelby Stauffenberg added a .308 average and three runs while hitting her first home run of the season against Fresno State.
- Freshman Miranda Gallardo earned her first career start at short stop against BYU and had a break out tournament after starting four of the five contests, posting a .300 batting average with three hits, two runs an RBI and a 1.000 fielding percentage on the weekend.
- Sophomores Addy Jarvis and Sydney Sickels combined for 28 strikeouts on the weekend, with Jarvis having a magnificent outing in the circle against Colorado State on Friday as she threw a one-hitter against the Rams – with that one knock coming in the seventh inning – while striking out six in the complete game win.
HEAD COACH TYRA PERRY
- 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 564-485-1 (.538) career record and is 155-97 (.615) 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.
- The Illini have reached at least 33 wins in each of 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 33 wins in each season after notching wins of 49, 34, 39 and 45, respectively, from 2001-04.
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. All-session tickets are now on sale HERE.
