ILLINOIS HEADS TO GAMECOCK INVITATIONAL
Illinois softball travels to the Gamecock Invitational from March 3-5 at the Carolina Softball Stadium. The Fighting Illini take on North Carolina A&T, UNCW, Columbia and the host South Carolina during the three-day event.
WEEKENDÂ PREVIEW
North Carolina A&T comes into the tournament with a 2-11 record this year. The team went 1-5 at the GATA Challenge last weekend With the Aggies lone victory, and 11-8 triumph, coming at Georgia Southern. Jai Deese paces the squad with a .313 hitting clip and a .563 slugging percentage. In the circle, Amaya Kearse owns a 5.00 ERAand eight strikeouts with 18.0 innings pitched.
UNCW enters the weekend at 4-10 this season. The Seahawks went 2-3 last weekend, topping Eastern Kentucky, 3-2, and Georgetown, 5-3. Janel Gamache holds a .432 batting average in her 14 starts this year. The graduate student has tallied five doubles, a triple and two homers already this year, resulting in an impressive .784 slugging percentage. In the circle, Gamache also paces the squad with a 1.72 ERA. During her three appearance, the Exeter, R.I., native secured 11 strikeouts while allowing nine runs on 16 hits.
South Carolina sits at 14-2 this year with a 6-1 record at home. The Gamecocks are ninth in the nation in scoring, averaging 7.50 runs per game. The team also ranks fifth in the country with 29 doubles, so far, this year. Zoe Laneaux paces the squad with a .317 batting average during her 16 starts this year. Donnie Gobourne holds a 1.35 ERA during her eight appearances this year. The senior has fanned 43 batters and allowed just four runs on 14 hits.Â
Columbia holds a 1-4 record this season, taking part in the Knight's Classic, hosted by UCF, last week. The team's lone victory came against Bradley, 7-5, during the tournament finale in Orlando. Jaden Hill is batting .444 with a .611 slugging percentage on the season. In the circle, Jordan Hill has seen most of the action, logging 14.2 innings of work while posting a 6.68 ERA. The sophomore owns seven strikeouts and a 1-2 record.
LAST TIME OUT
The Illini took part in the Houston Tournament last weekend, posting a 4-1 record when facing Sam Houston, Houston, Houston Christian and Pitt. The Orange and Blue closed out the tournament with an 11-inning affair with Pitt, earning the 2-1 walk-off win during Sunday's finale. Sydney Sickels pitched an 11.0 inning complete game, allowing one run on four hits while fanning eight. Offensively, Kelly Ryono tallied the decisive blow in the triumph over the Panthers. The senior went 2-for-5 at the plate with two RBI.
SISTER, SISTER
The Fighting Illini's season opener served as a family reunion as head coach Tyra Perry faced off against younger sister Brittney Williams in a battle of the head coaches. Williams is in her second season at the helm for Southern.
The Illini's 14-2 triumph over the Jaguars marked first meeting between the two teams and the two head coaches. Williams played under Perry at WKU 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 EARNSÂ STRIKEOUTÂ RECORDS
Sydney Sickels continues to etch her name in the Illinois softball record books. During the Fighting Illini's 6-4 extra innings victory over Fordham, Sickels fanned 21 batters, besting her career record. The mark currently stands as the most strikeouts in a single game for an Illini player. The Indianola, Iowa, native owns 625 strikeouts for her career, making the pitcher Illinois all-time strikeouts leader.
STEINER NEARS 200TH HIT
Avrey Steiner eyes her 200th career hit during the Illini's visit to the Gamecock Invitational. The second baseman holds 196 hits heading into the weekend. The Fowler, Ohio, native leads the Orange and Blue with 17 hits and a .370 batting average during her 2023 campaign.
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 under 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.
EICHELBERGER FIELD: HOME OF THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
The Big Ten Tournament runs through Urbana, Ill., as Eichelberger Field serves as the host site for the 2023 conference tournament. This will be the first time Illinois softball as hosted the event.The tournament is set to take place from May 10-13 with every game broadcast on BTN.
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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