ILLINI HEAD TO COLUMBIA REGIONAL TO OPEN 2022 NCAA SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
For the eighth time in program history, the Fighting Illini softball team heads to the NCAA Tournament this week (May 20-22) after being selected to the Columbia Regional, hosted by the University of Missouri. Illinois will begin action on Friday (May 20) facing off against Arizona at 3:30 p.m. CT at Mizzou Softball Stadium. All games at the Columbia Regional will be streamed live on the ESPN family of networks, with Friday's game set to stream on ESPN+. All Illinois games this postseason will also be carried live on the radio on WDWS 1400-AM.
ILLINI SELECTED FOR EIGHTH APPEARANCE IN NCAA SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
For the eighth time in program history and the fourth under head coach Tyra Perry, the Illinois softball team earned a berth into the 2022 NCAA Tournament and was selected as one of the 32 at-large bids, as announced on the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday (May 15).
The Illini were selected to the Columbia Regional, hosted by overall No. 15 seed Missouri in Columbia, Mo., and will face Arizona (33-20) on Friday, May 20 at 3:30 p.m. CT in the opening round at Mizzou Softball Stadium. The double-elimination regional will be held on Friday-Sunday, with host Missouri facing Missouri State at 1 p.m. CT on Friday.
Each regional follows a double-elimination format with at least three wins required to get to the NCAA Super Regionals.
The Illini enter the 2022 NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 34-20 and finished in third place in the Big Ten Conference standings with a 15-6 mark. As a conference, the Big Ten earned a total of eight bids with Northwestern set to host Regionals, while Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Rutgers and Wisconsin join the Illini in the field.
COLUMBIA REGIONAL PREVIEW
Missouri (36-20) is hosting a regional for the second-straight season after being selected the 15th-overall national seed, and will be making their 12th overall appearance in the tournament. The Tigers are coming off an SEC Tournament Championship game appearance, falling to Arkansas 4-0 last Saturday. In their run in the SEC tournament, the Tigers shutout three-straight opponents (Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee) en route to their title game appearance.
Illinois (34-20) is making their eighth overall appearance in the tournament and are coming off a quarterfinal loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament. Finishing third in the Big Ten with a 15-7 conference record, the Illini lost just one Big Ten series this season and own upset victories over Arkansas and LSU.
Arizona (33-20) is making its 35th-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the longest active postseason streak in the NCAA and a softball NCAA record. The Wildcats will be going on the road for a regional for the first time since 2016 and has advanced to 31 of 34 super regionals in their 35 appearances. The Wildcats finished in a tie for last in the Pac 12 this season with an 8-16 conference record, but boast a high powered offense ranking top ten in the nation batting average (.329, 10th) and ninth in home runs (86, ninth).
Missouri State (27-18) is making their seventh NCAA tournament appearance and are coming off an MVC Tournament championship, securing the conference's automatic bid into the tournament. It is their first appearance in the tournament since 2011. The Bears finished in second place in conference play with a 18-7 conference record.
HISTORY AT NCAA TOURNAMENT
Illinois is making its eighth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and owns a 11-14 record in postseason play with appearances in 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017 and 2019. The Illini have advanced to the Regional Final twice in program history, falling to No. 3 seed LSU in the Waco, Texas Regional in 2004 and No. 14 seed Kentucky in the Lexington Regional in 2017.
In the Illini's last regional appearance at the Lexington Regional in 2019, Illinois lost its opening matchup to Virginia Tech but avoided elimination on Saturday by defeating Toledo, but ended up falling to Virginia Tech on Saturday to wrap up their regional appearance.
2022 BIG TEN SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT RECAP
The Fighting Illini softball team fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes 5-1 last 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.
Nebraska was the eventual winner of the 2022 Big Ten Softball Tournament, defeating Michigan 3-1 in eight innings.
RECORD-TYING EIGHT BIG TEN TEAMS SELECTED FOR POSTSEASON PLAY
The Big Ten Conference will be well-represented in this year's softball postseason, with a record-tying eight of its programs earning a spot in either the NCAA or National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) tournaments after the brackets for both events were announced Sunday night.
Highlighting the announcement, seven Big Ten schools were chosen for the NCAA Tournament, tying the conference record for the most bids in a single season (a mark originally set in 2003). Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State and Wisconsin all earned NCAA Tournament berths, with Northwestern the No. 9 overall seed.
In addition, the NISC selected Rutgers to represent the Big Ten in this year's tournament. The Scarlet Knights are one of three Big Ten schools who have competed in the NISC since that event debuted in 2017 (it resumes this season following a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Sunday's announcements tie for the most postseason softball qualifiers (8) the Big Ten has ever fielded, matching the total set in 2019, when the conference had six NCAA Tournament participants and two NISC qualifiers.
SEVEN ILLINI TABBED TO ALL-BIG TEN TEAMS
The 2022 Big Ten Softball All-Big Ten teams were announced by the conference office last Wednesday morning, with seven different Illini garnering All-Big Ten team honors.
Senior Avrey Steiner was named First Team All-Big Ten, while fellow classmates Sydney Sickels and Kailee Powell were named Second Team All-Big Ten. Freshmen Paige Berkmeyer, Lauren Wiles, and Stevie Meade all earned a spot on the All-Freshman team, while graduate student Lakyn Wagoner was named the Illini's Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Steiner earned her second career All-Big Ten honor after being named Second Team All-Big Ten last season. The Fowler, Ohio native led the Big Ten in hits this season with 73, and also ranked seventh in the conference with a team-leading .390 batting average.
Sickels earned her first career All-Big Ten honor after setting a new career-high in strikeouts (181), good for sixth in the conference, and recording a sub-2.00 ERA for the first time in her career (1.98). Sickels also ranked third in the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.32) and strikeouts-per-seven innings (9.4), while ranking second in the conference in saves with four on the season.
Powell earned her second career All-Big Ten honor after being named First Team All-Big Ten last season. The Canyon Country, Calif. native was fifth in the conference in doubles (15) and sixth in doubles per game (0.28) this season.
Meade, Berkmeyer, and Wiles all earned spots on the All-Freshman team as a result of their stellar performances on the field as first-year players. Meade led all freshman this season in hits (45), RBI (28), and total bases (69), while also being tied for the lead in doubles (ten). Berkmeyer ranked tied for fourth amongst freshmen in batting average (.310) this season, while garnering 18 RBI and five doubles. Wiles led all freshman pitchers in the Big Ten in ERA (2.64) amongst players who pitched over 100 innings this season, while ranking second in strikeouts (87) and third in batting average aganst (.228).
ILLINI FINISH REGULAR SEASON THIRD IN BIG TEN
Illinois finished the regular season with a 15-7 mark in conference play, their most regular season Big Ten wins in a season under head coach Tyra Perry and just one away from tying the most in program history with 16 set in 2010. The Illini went 5-1-2 in Big Ten series this season, with their lone series loss coming this past weekend to Penn State (1-2). Illinois picked up series wins against Minnesota (2-1), Wisconsin (3-0), Rutgers (3-0), Iowa (2-1), and Indiana (2-1), while splitting series with Northwestern and Purdue (1-1).
ILLINI ECLIPSE 30 WIN MARK
With their midweek victory over DePaul, Illinois eclipsed the 30 win mark for the fifth time under head coach Tyra Perry. Illinois did not reach 30 in only two seasons, the COVID canceled 2020 season and the shortened Big Ten only schedule in 2021. It is the 12th time in program history that an Illinois softball team has reached 30+ wins.
SICKELS NEARING ALL-TIME STRIKEOUTS RECORD
With 556 career strikeouts, senior Sydney Sickels now ranks second all-time in Illinois history in strikeouts and is nearing the all-time record of 592 set by Pepper Gay from 2010-13. She is just 37 strikeouts away from that mark. Sickels is just the second pitcher in Illinois history to eclipse 500 career strikeouts, with the only other being Pepper Gay.
ILLINI IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
(Rankings as of Tuesday, May 17)
NCAA RPI: 34
Team
Batting Average: .308 (2nd B1G, 27th NCAA)
Doubles: 93 (1st B1G, 4th NCAA)
Doubles per game: 1.72 (2nd B1G, 8th NCAA)
ERA: 2.40 (3rd B1G, 36th NCAA)
On-Base Percentage: .366 (5th B1G, 79th NCAA)
Scoring: 4.93 (8th B1G, 90th NCAA)
Shutouts: 12 (3rd B1G, 38th NCAA)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio: 3.92 (2nd B1G, 16th NCAA)
Individual
Megan Ward: 16 doubles (4th B1G, 19th NCAA), 0.30 doubles per game (4th B1G, 46th NCAA)
Kailee Powell: 0.28 doubles per game (7th B1G, 75th NCAA)
Avrey Steiner: 74 hits (1st B1G, 9th NCAA)
Tori McQueen: 6.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio (2nd B1G, 23rd NCAA), 8.1 strikeouts per seven (6th B1G, 79th NCAA), 1.35 walks allowed per seven (2nd B1G, 48th NCAA)
Sydney Sickels: 9.4 strikeouts per seven (3rd B1G, 32nd NCAA), 186 strikeouts (6th B1G, 49th NCAA)
Bella Loya: 37.8 Toughest to Strike out (1st B1G, 7th NCAA)
PERRY EARNS 200TH WIN AS ILLINI HEAD COACH
In Illinois' game one victory over Wisconsin on Saturday (April 9), head coach Tyra Perry earned her 200th win as head coach of the Fighting Illini. This is the second wins milestone coach Perry has passed this season, after gaining her 600th career win over Liberty in March.
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