BATON ROUGE, La. – On day two of the LSU Tiger Classic, the Fighting Illini softball team earned victories over Central Arkansas and South Alabama in a Saturday morning/afternoon double-header.
"I thought we fought hard against two good teams today and the results were in our favor" head coach Tyra Perry said.
The Illini first grabbed a 3-2 victory over South Alabama to begin the day in the teams' only meeting this weekend. In game two, the Illini earned a 2-1 walk-off victory over Central Arkansas to sweep the weekend series against the Bears, with Illinois also earning a victory over the Bears yesterday afternoon.
GAME ONE: ILLINOIS 3, SOUTH ALABAMA 2
The Illini earned a 3-2 victory over the South Alabama Jaguars Saturday morning. Illinois was led by freshman RHP Lauren Wiles, who earned her first career win as an Illini, going all seven innings and striking out 11 batters. Offensivley, the Illini were aided by two hits and an RBI from junior Kelly Ryono, while Danielle Davis and Avrey Steiner also added RBIs.
Illinois grabbed the early lead in the second after Ryono doubled down the right field line and advanced to third on a fielding error, scoring Kailee Powell to go up 1-0. Davis then followed Ryono up with a double of her own, pushing the score to 2-0.
After a quiet third inning for both teams, South Alabama was able to tie the score at two in the fourth inning after a triple and a single scored both the Jaguars runs.
The Illini were quick to respond in the fifth inning, with Steiner driving a single up the middle to score Megan Ward. Wiles then finished the game with three straight scoreless innings, with the freshman pitcher tallying six strikeouts over the final three innings of the game, and sealed the Illini victory.
"Our freshman, Lauren Wiles showed a ton of toughness in game one and kept the well-coached South Alabama hitters at bay" head coach Tyra Perry said.
GAME TWO: ILLINOIS 2, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 1
The Illini earned a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Central Arkansas to earn a series sweep over the Bears after also defeating them 9-0 yesterday afternoon. Illinois was led by solid pitching performances from sophomore Tori McQueen and graduate student Kelsie Packard, while the highlight of the game came in the bottom of the seventh inning courtesy of Kailee Powell.
Each team was shut out offensively through the first four innings before the Bears got on the board in the top half of the fifth inning.
Sophomore LHP Tori McQueen kept the Illini in the ballgame, allowing just four hits and one unearned run while adding a strikeout. In relief, Packard struck out three batters while giving up no hits and only one walk.
Heading into the bottom of the seventh inning needing one run to send the game to extras and two to win it, Powell chose the latter option. After graduate student Bella Loya worked a walk, Powell smashed a two-run home run over the left-center field fence to give the Illini the walk-off win. It was Illinois' first home run of the season, and also their first walk-off win of the season.
"The McQueen Packard combo was highly effective in our second game vs. Central Arkansas. It was a dogfight early on but back to back quality AB's by veterans Bella Loya and Kailee Powell led us to victory in walk-off fashion" head coach Tyra Perry said.
UP NEXT
Illinois will wrap up the LSU Tiger Classic tomorrow morning, facing off against 14th-ranked LSU at 10 a.m. CT. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
FOLLOW THE #ILLINI
For the latest news and information on Fighting Illini softball, follow @IlliniSB on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and tune in to fightingillini.com.
