Illinois (18-12, 0-3 B1G) Readies for Midweek Contests
When & Where	March 28-29 // Urbana, Ill. // Eichelberger Field
SIUE	Tuesday // 5 p.m.
Indiana State	Wednesday // 4 & 6:30 p.m.
Series History	SIUE // 4-0 Indiana State // 11-2
Television	B1G+
Stats	Live Stats
Notes	Illinois // SIUE // Indiana State
Radio (Indiana State)	WDWS 1400 AM
Social Media	@IlliniSB  | #Illini | @IlliniSB  | Facebook | YouTube

FIGHTING ILLINI WELCOMES SIUE AND INDIANA STATE

Illinois softball readies for games against SIUE and Indiana State at Eichelberger Field. The Fighting Illini face off with the Cougars on Tuesday at 5 p.m. A doubleheader with the Sycamores is slated for 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

SIUE comes into the week at 10-18 overall and 0-7 against Ohio Valley Conference opponents. Lexi King paces the Cougar squad, hitting .398 for the season with eight doubles and two home runs. In the circle, Sydney Baalman holds a 2.87 ERA with 43 strikeouts in her 63.1 innings of work.

Indiana State enters the contest at 17-12 this season with a 6-0 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play. Isabella Henning owns a .440 batting average, posting eight doubles, three homers and 13 RBI during her junior campaign. Lexi Benko is 8-3 this season with a 1.76 ERA and 53 strikeouts during her 71.2 innings pitched.

LAST TIME OUT

Fighting Illini softball dropped three-straight during their Big Ten series against Rutgers. Megan Ward went 7-for-10 during the weekend with a double and two RBI. Stevie Meade hit .667 with a triple and two doubles while Kelly Ryono logged a .600 average with a double, a homer and six RBI.

TRIPLE DOUBLE

Avrey Steiner and Stevie Meade have made hitting triples look easy this season. The duo has recorded three triples each this year, tying for 10^th all-time in the Illini record books for a single season.

STRIKE FIRST, STRIKE EARLY

Hot starts have proved to be critical for the Fighting Illini this season. The team is 10-1 when scoring in the first inning and 1-6 when letting the opposition score in the opening frame. The Orange and Blue is also 16-3 when scoring first and 2-9 when surrendering first run of the game. the three setbacks when the Illini scored first occurred against then-ranked No. 13 Tennessee (Feb. 10), at South Florida (March 11) and Rutgers (March 26).

NO SUBS, NO PROBLEM

During the Illini's 3-0 shutout of Saint Francis (Pa.), on March 13, neither team made a change to their lineup card. The game marked the only known matchup this season where both squads stuck to their original 10 players and did not make any adjustments to their lineup.

SICKELS EARNS STRIKEOUT 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 657 strikeouts for her career, making the pitcher Illinois all-time strikeouts leader.

STEINER RECORDS 200TH HIT

Avrey Steiner recorded her 200th career hit during the Illini's visit to Tampa. The second baseman holds 2089 hits heading into the week. The Fowler, Ohio, native owns 30 hits and a .300 batting average during her 2023 campaign.

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. 

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. 

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 broadcasted on BTN.