Heading into her second appearance of the 2023 campaign, Sydney Sickels admits she did not feel great. After a rough first outing of the season, a game in which she came out of the bullpen, she recalls feeling a bit off ahead of her first start of the year against Fordham on Feb. 11.
"I actually remember not feeling my best with my pitches," Sickels said. "I was like, 'OK, I need to have a little more focus than just going up there and throwing.'"
And yet, Sickels put together one of the best performances of her career. Through three innings, all nine Fordham outs came via Sickels strikeouts. By the end of the fifth inning, Sickels was up to 14. An inning later, she matched the program's single-game strikeout record with 16, a title she previously also owned.
With the game knotted at 2-2 after seven innings, Sickels punched out five more Ram hitters in extras, setting a new program record with 21 strikeouts and earning her first victory of the year.
"There's games where I'm just dominating, and I can kind of tell, 'Oh yeah, I'm getting close to 10 or whatever,'" Sickels said. "For that Fordham game, specifically, I think I gave up one or two home runs also, so it doesn't feel like it. I was like, 'Oh, I need to step it up,' when in reality, I got to 21."
Her historic performance also broke another program record, a mark she had been eyeing before the season even began and ultimately surpassed against Fordham: the program's all-time strikeout record. Sickels set the new record with her 20th strikeout of the afternoon in the bottom of the ninth inning.
"I had a good idea that I was getting pretty close," Sickels said. "I knew that it was a possibility within the first couple of weekends, but other than that, I didn't know the exact number. I didn't expect to get it in that game. I had no idea."
Surrounded by teammates and coaches after the 6-4 victory, Sickels was informed by head coach Tyra Perry that she achieved the new all-time mark, leading to a chorus of "M-V-P" chants from the Illini in Florida.
This was a moment four seasons in the making, as Sickels opted to use her extra year of eligibility and return for a fifth – and what will be her final – campaign. After earning All-Big Ten honors for the first time following the 2022 season, a year in which she set career-best marks in ERA (2.13), strikeouts (198), and batting average against (.197), Sickels now brings even greater expectations into the 2023 campaign.
The opportunity for Sickels to return for a fifth year was too good to pass up, and she made the decision almost immediately back in 2020 after hearing about the possibility for athletes to receive another year of eligibility.
"I actually made that decision pretty early after COVID happened when we found out we would get that fifth year," Sickels said. "I talked with Coach Perry and other coaches, and I just knew that if I got the opportunity to play another year, I would, because softball doesn't go much farther than college softball. There's other opportunities, but I just knew that I wanted to play as long as I could."
Leading the Illini in wins, appearances, complete games, innings pitched, and strikeouts thus far this season, Sickels has embraced her significant role at Illinois. With the Orange and Blue in the full swing of Big Ten play, Sickels is savoring every second of her final season of collegiate softball, especially with her name forever etched in program history.
"I want to be remembered as someone who lifted people up and was that good teammate," Sickels said. "I think back to my high-school career, I can't remember half the games, half the scores, or many stats, but I can remember the kind of people that I was surrounded by. I want to be someone who is remembered as just a good teammate and a good friend.
"I'm giving it everything I have. There's no reason to save anything at this point, so it's just about giving everything I have to my teammates and to the sport."
