Illini Claim Series Against Hawkeyes With Saturday Doubleheader Split

URBANA, Ill. - With temperatures reaching the 80s Saturday afternoon, the Fighting Illini softball team split a doubleheader against the Iowa Hawkeyes to clinch the three-game series at Eichelberger Field. Illinois dropped game one by a score of 7-3 in nine innings, while picking up a 5-4 victory in game two to clinch the series.

Illinois (29-16, 12-4 Big Ten) claimed their third-straight weekend series victory after previously sweeping Wisconsin and Rutgers. In the series, senior Kailee Powell led the Illini going 4-for-9 with a double and four RBI to go along with two runs scored. Freshman Stevie Meade and junior Delaney Rummell also added two RBI in the series, while senior right-hander Sydney Sickels tossed 10.2 innings against the Hawkeyes, giving up just four runs (all unearned) while walking just three batters and striking out 13.

GAME ONE | ILLINOIS 3, IOWA 7 (9 INN.)

At the plate, Rummell led the Illini with two RBI on a game-tying home run in the seventh inning to send the game to extra frames, while fellow classmate Kelly Ryono notched two hits in the contest. In the circle, Sickels, despite taking the loss and giving up four runs (all unearned), tossed 8.1 innings, striking out seven batters and giving up just four hits in the contest.

Both teams went down in order in the first before the Illini threatened in the bottom of the second after a Ryono single and Powell walk put runners on first and second with just one out, but nothing came of it as a strike out ended the inning. The Hawkeyes again went down in order in the third, and the Illini placed a runner in scoring position with two outs that was ultimately stranded by a strikeout.

The Hawkeyes broke through for two runs in the fourth after a walk and hit by pitch came around to score on a fielding error with two outs, putting Iowa up 2-0 through four after Illinois went down in order in their half of the inning. Iowa again threatened in the fifth after a fielding error and single put two runners on, but a trio of popouts ended the inning. 

Heading to the final frame of regulation down 2-0 and needing a rally, the duo of Ryono and Rummell struck again with Ryono reaching on a single and Rummell mashing her team-leading tenth home run of the season over the wall in left-center to tie the game at two in the seventh with no outs. The final three batters went down in order, and the contest headed to extra innings knotted at two a piece.

After Sickels sat down the Hawkeyes in order in the eighth, Illinois threatened to walk the game off after Danielle Davis knocked a pinch hit single and a sacrafice bunt advanced the runner to second with just one out. A Megan Ward single advanced the runner to third base with two away, but a groundout ended Illinois' chance of walking the game off in the eighth. In the top of the ninth, the Hawkeyes plated five runs on four hits, and depsite the Illini grabbing a run back after a Jaelyn Vickery pinch-hit single, the rally was not enough and Illinois fell in game two of the series by a score of 7-3.

GAME TWO | ILLINOIS 5, IOWA 4

In game two, the Illini were able to fight off a late Hawkeye rally to take game three 5-4 and win the weekend series. At the plate, Powell went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a double, while Ryono tallied an RBI and Meade knocked a solo home run to power the Illini offense. In the circle, freshman Lauren Wiles took a no-hitter into the final frame and earned the win despite letting up four runs in the seventh, while Sickels earned her third save on the season after entering in a one-run game in the seventh and striking out two batters to seal the Illini victory.

Wiles worked around a walk in the first to keep the Hawkeyes off the board, and the Illini bats wasted no time in the first, plating three runs on two hits and an error. Avrey Steiner started the inning off reaching on a fielding error, and a sacrafice bunt by Meade advanced her to scoring position. Ryono then doubled to left-center to plate Steiner and stole third on a Bella Loya walk. Powell then stepped to the plate and knocked a bases-clearing double, scoring Loya and Ryono to push Illinois' lead to 3-0 through one inning.

Despite some action from Illinois in the second, both teams went down quietly in the second and third innings, and Wiles was able to sit the Hawkeyes down in order in the top of the fourth. In the bottom half of the inning, the Illini were able to extend their lead after a Powell single and an infield single from Miranda Gallardo put runners on the corners with two outs. The Hawkeye catcher then committed a throwing error atempting to catch Gallardo stealing, allowing Powell to cross the plate and extend the lead to 4-0 through four innings.

Another three up, three down inning from Wiles in the fifth led the Illini to tacking on another run in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff solo home run by Meade, pushing Illinois' lead to 5-0. Heading into the final frame with a 5-0 lead and Wiles attempting to complete the no-hitter, the Hawkeyes broke through for a leadoff single, their first hit of the game. Then, the Hawkeyes were able to put together a rally against Wiles, scoring four runs to make it a 5-4 ballgame, still with no outs in the inning. Sickels entered the game looking for the save with runners on second and third with no outs and she was able to deliver, inducing a lineout of the first hitter and back-to-back strikeouts to secure the save and a 5-4 Illinois victory.

UP NEXT

The Illini hit the road next week, heading up to Chicago on Wednesday (April 27) to face off against DePaul before traveling to Bloomington, Ind. for a three-game set with the Indiana Hoosiers next weekend, April 29-May 1.