CLEMSON, S.C. – The Fighting Illini softball team opened the Clemson Tiger Invitational Saturday, defeating RV Liberty in extra innings before dropping a game to No. 17/15 Clemson.
The Illini overcame the Flames to start the day, defeating RV Liberty 5-4 in eight innings. At the plate, senior Kailee Powell led the Illini knocking in three runs on two hits, while freshman Stevie Meade knocked in the game-winning run in extras. In the circle, senior Sydney Sickels struck out six batters while sophomore Tori McQueen came in to the game and tossed 2.1 scoreless innings en route to the win.
"We are still a team that is trying to find our true identity. Today we started out strong but stalled a bit in later innings" head coach Tyra Perry said. "Relaxing against a team like Liberty can be problematic because they are so well coached. We have been talking to the team about finding different ways to win and we found a way in game one."
In the second game of the day, Illinois went down early and threatened to come back multiple times, but ended up falling to No. 17/15 Clemson 1-3. In the circle, sophomore left-hander Tori McQueen fought back from letting up two runs early to strikeout eight batters in the game. At the plate, redshirt junior Danielle Davis knocked in the lone Illini run on the afternoon while tallying a 3-for-3 day at the plate.
"We had our chances against Clemson today. Tori McQueen was poised on the mound. She gave us a opportunity to win. We are going to watch film, regroup and get back to it tomorrow" head coach Tyra Perry said.
GAME ONE // ILLINOIS 5, RV LIBERTY 4
The bats wasted no time getting hot, as Powell doubled in Avrey Steiner after her leadoff single. Powell came around to score on a double by Jaelyn Vickery, and the Illini led 2-0 through one after a 1-2-3 inning from Sickels.
Both teams threatened to score in the third inning but no runs ended up coming across the plate. In the fourth, the Illini tacked on two more runs courtesy of a two RBI single from Powell, extending the lead to 4-0.
Sickels continued to pitch well, striking out three more batters in the fourth and fifth innings. However, the Flames put up four runs in the bottom of the sixth to knot the game at four a piece.
The Illini threatened in the top of the seventh, with Megan Ward knocking her third hit of the game, but was caught stealing to end the Illini's half of the seventh. With McQueen in the circle, the sophomore got two quick strikeouts and the last batter to fly out sending the game to extra innings.
With the international tiebreaker rule in place, putting Ward on second to begin the eighth inning, Steiner advanced Ward on a groundout and Meade knocked a single up the middle to put the Illini up 5-4 in the eighth.
McQueen entered the circle again in the bottom of the eighth to close the game out. After two straight walks with one out loaded the bases, Illinois got a force out at the plate and a fly out to center field to finish the game in favor of the Illini.
GAME TWO // ILLINOIS 1, CLEMSON 3
Clemson struck early in the game, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning on a two RBI single. In the second, Illinois threatened to cut into the Tiger lead after Powell reached third base, but was ultimately left on base.
Though the Tigers scored early, McQueen settled in to the game sitting down the Tiger bats in order in the second and third innings, tallying three strikeouts in that span. Clemson added another run in the fourth, however, on an RBI single.
The Illini threatened in the top of the fifth inning after Bella Loya singled and pinch runner Gabi Robles advanced a base on a wild pitch and stole third. Davis then stepped to the plate and singled, scoring Robles and cutting the deficit to two. The Illini run ended after Davis was caught in a pickle trying to score on a fielding error.
Clemson put a runner on third in the bottom of the fifth, but McQueen struck out the last batter to keep the deficit to two, and proceeded to work around a single in the bottom of the sixth to keep the deficit to two entering the final frame. Despite a Davis single in the top of the seventh, Illinois was unable to bring her to the plate, and the game ended in favor of the Tigers by a score of 3-1.
UP NEXT
The Illini wrap up the Clemson Tiger Invitational tomorrow morning, playing back-to-back games against Liberty at 9:00 a.m. CT and Clemson at 11:30 a.m. CT. Live stats will be available for both games, while the Clemson game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
