Illini Fall in Quarterfinals of Big Ten Tournament to Buckeyes

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Fighting Illini softball team fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes 5-1 Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Big Ten Softball Tournament.

Illinois (34-20) was led at the plate by graduate student Bella Loya, who knocked in the lone Illini RBI on a fielder's choice in the seventh innings, while senior Kailee Powell knocked two hits on the afternoon. Senior Avrey Steiner, junior Kelly Ryono, and sophomore Megan Ward also knocked hits for the Illini. Freshman RHP Lauren Wiles started the game for the Illini, taking the loss and falling to 8-6 on the season after giving up four runs (all unearned) and striking out four batters, while senior Sydney Sickels tossed 4.1 innings in relief, striking out five batters and giving up just one run.

For the Buckyes (35-14), Lexie Handley earned the win in the circle to improve to 22-8 on the season after tossing seven innings while giving up one run. At the plate, Melina Wilkison and McKenzie Bump tallied RBI for Ohio State, who moves on to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals to face Nebraska.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both teams went down in order in the first, while the Buckeyes threatened in the second with two runners on, but the Illini defense and Wiles were able to get out of the inning unscathed. In the third, the Illini committed three fielding errors with two outs, leading to four runs for the Buckeyes and moving the score to 4-0 Ohio State through three innings after the Illini went down in order in their half of the third.

The Illini found their first baserunner of the game in the fourth after Steiner led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrafice bunt off the bat of Stevie Meade. Ward then knocked a single to center field to put runners on the corners with one away, but she was caught stealing the next play to leave Steiner at third with two outs. A fly out then ended the Illini's threat in the fourth. 

After Sickels sat down the Buckeyes in order in both the fourth and fifth, Illinois found another baserunner in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out single from Powell, but she was stranded on an inning ending pop out. 

Heading to the final frame down four runs, the Buckeyes extended their lead to 5-0 after a leadoff solo home run, and Illinois came to bat in the home half of the seventh looking to rally. Ward led off the seventh with a walk, and a Ryono single put runners on second and third with no outs after a passed ball advanced the runners 60 feet. Loya then reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Ward, but Ryono was tagged out heading from second to third to leave a runner on first base with two outs. Powell then singled to center field to continue the rally, but a foul out to the first baseman ended the game in favor of the Buckeyes by a score of 5-1.

UP NEXT

Illinois will discover their postseason fate on Sunday (May 15) when the 2022 NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed live on ESPN2 at 6:00 p.m. CT.