ILLINI BEGIN 2023 CAMPAIGN IN FLORIDA
Illinois softball begins its 2023 season on the road as the team heads to the Sunshine State for the NFCA Leadoff Classic from Feb. 10-12. The Fighting Illini are set to battle Southern, No. 13 Tennessee, Fordham, No. 6 Texas and No. 21 Auburn at the three-day tournament.
NFCA LEADOFF CLASSIC PREVIEW
Southern comes into the new season after posting a 16-34 record in 2022. the Jaguars recorded an 11-13 mark in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play. The team was picked third in the SWAC Eastern Division for the 2023 campaign. Southern returns 11 p[layers from last year's roster including Alana Mark, who led the team with a .316 batting average during her first collegiate season.Â
No. 13 Tennessee finished the 2022 season with a 41-18 mark including a 15-8 record against Southeastern Conference opponents. The team  hosted an NCAA Regionals, falling to Oregon State. Kiki Milloy, Zaida Puni and Ashley Rogers were all tabbed to the Preseason All-SEC team. Milloy slashed .362/.673/.455 during her junior campaign. Rogers paced the Volunteer squad with a 2.01 ERA, picking up 12 wins in over 25 appearances.A newcomer in 2022, Puni was named to the All-SEC Second Team and registered NFCA All-Southeast Region Third Team accolades.
The 2023 preseason favorites in the Atlantic 10, Fordham finished the 2022 season at 30-22 overall, including a 3-1 record at the A-10 Tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Key returners for the Rams include A-10 Championship Most Outstanding Player Bailey Enoch and 2021 A-10 Rookie of the Year Devon Miller.
No. 6 Texas reached the finals of the WCWS in 2022, recording a 47-22-1 overall mark. The ranked Longhorns ranked second in the Big 12 with a .303 batting average in 2022. Sophomore Mia Scott was selected to the Top 50 Watch List for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. A unanimous 2023 Big 12 Softball Preseason Team selection, Scott picked up All-Big 12 Second Team, All-Big 12 Freshman Team and NFCA All-Central Region Second Team recognition last season after finishing her collegiate debut with a .377 batting average, .443 on-base percentage and a .554 slugging percentage.
Another SEC foe, No. 21 Auburn, went 40-17 last season with an 11-13 record in league play and appearing in the NCAA Tournament, A pair of players were named to the Preseason All-SEC Softball Team with Maddie Penta and Bri Ellis receiving recognition. Penta led the SEC and finished 15th in the nation last year with 24 wins in the circle. As a sophomore, she posted a 1.76 ERA in 195.0 innings of work. Ellis led all SEC freshmen and ranked third in the conference in both total home runs (20) and home runs per game (0.36). During her freshman campaign, the Houston native posted a .302 batting average and a .772 slugging percentage.
SISTER, SISTER
The Fighting Illini's season opener will be a family affair as head coach Tyra Perry faces off against younger sister Brittney Williams in a battle of the head coaches. Williams is in her second season at the helm for Southern, boasting a 16-34 record with the Lady Jaguars.
This will mark the first meeting between the two teams and the two head coaches. Williams played under Perry at WKUÂ in Perry's first four years leading the program. With the Hilltoppers, Williams played in 168 games, making 104 starts. She logged 45 hits, 53 runs and 21 stolen bases during her four-year career.Â
SICKELS NEARSÂ ALL-TIME STRIKEOUTS RECORD
With 573 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 20 strikeouts away from surpassing that mark. Sickels is just the second pitcher in Illinois history to eclipse 500 career strikeouts, with the only other being Gay. The program's all-time wins leader Amanda Fortune tallied 470 strikeouts in her career, ranking third on the list.
FEELING VANNTASTIC
Illini softball head coach Tyra Perry has announced the addition of softball veteran Vann Stuedeman as Illinois' next pitching coach. The former Mississippi State head coach spent nearly two decades in the SEC, also serving as an assistant coach at Alabama prior to her arrival in Champaign.Â
Stuedeman led the Mississippi State program for the 2012-19 campaigns compiling an overall record of 275-190 across those eight seasons. Under her leadership, the Bulldogs appeared in seven NCAA Tournaments and won 33 or more games in seven of Stuedeman's eight seasons in Starkville.
Prior to her arrival in Starkville, Stuedeman helped Alabama claim three SEC regular-season titles en route to reaching the Women's College World Series six times.
STAFFING UPDATES
Miranda Rodriguez and Rachel Houck joined the Illini staff during this past offseason. Rodriguez serves as the team's volunteer assistant coach and Houck took over as the director of operations.
Rodriguez comes to Champaign-Urbana after a stint at Memphis where she served upder the same role. She began her collegiate softball career at Cosumnes River College in 2017, leading the Hawks with 67 hits including 14 extra-base knocks. She owned a .424 batting average and drove in 37 RBI.
From there, she transferred to the Big 12. Across her four seasons at Kansas (2018-21), the Elk Grove, California, native appeared in 90 games for the Jayhawks. Rodriguez primarily played middle infield at Kansas.
Houck joins the Orange and Blue after two seasons as an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois, which followed two years as a graduate assistant with the Panthers.
Prior to her time at Eastern Illinois, Houck was a volunteer coach at Ball State in 2017 and helped the team to a 37-19 record and MAC West division title.
The Greenfield, Ind., native began her collegiate career at Louisville during the 2014 campaign. Houck went on to graduate from Ball State after playing the 2015-17 seasons with the Cardinals and plastered her name all over the single-season and career lists in the record book. She earned second team NFCA All-Region as a senior along with MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete honors. Additionally, Houck was a three-time Academic All-MAC honoree.
During the 2015 campaign at Ball State, Houck and Perry overlapped and helped the Cardinals to a 34-25 record including a MAC Tournament championship.
LOOKING BACK AT 2022
Illinois saw a successful 2022 campaign, boasting a 34-22Â record overall and a 15-8 mark in Big Ten action. The team placed third in the conference during league action and earned multiple wins over ranked opponents.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.Â
As a conference, the Big Ten earned a total of seven bids with Northwestern reaching the Women's College World Series. Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Wisconsin also joined the Illini in the field.
SIX ALL-BIG TEN HONOREES RETURN FOR 2023
Avrey Steiner was named First Team All-Big Ten, while Sydney Sickels and Kailee Powell were named Second Team All-Big Ten.  Paige Berkmeyer, Lauren Wiles, and Stevie Meade all earned a spot on the All-Freshman team.
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 among 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) among players who pitched over 100 innings this season, while ranking second in strikeouts (87) and third in batting average against (.228).
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