FIGHTING ILLINI Welcome #11 Missouri for Braggin' Rights Home Opener
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – For the first time this season, Illinois softball takes to Eichelberger Field as the team hosts #11 Missouri for a midweek Braggin' Rights doubleheader, beginning at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed on B1G+, and Scott Beatty will have the radio call on WDWS.
TIGER HUNTING
#11 Mizzou owns an impressive 20-3 record this year, including a 2-1 mark in SEC play. Missouri took the series against Auburn, 2-1, to open conference play last weekend.
With the Tigers batting .300 on the year, Alex Honnold holds a .403 average, having started all 23 games this year and posting 29 total hits. In the circle, Mizzou has thrown seven different pitchers this year, combining for a 1.66 team ERA. Laurin Krings has tallied a squad-best 57 strikeouts while boasting a 1.90 ERA.
Illinois trails Missouri, 4-14 in the all-time series. Illinois last topped the Tigers in 2020, a 2-1 triumph. The game was the final contest played for either team before the COVID-19 pandemic cut the season short.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois went 3-0 at the Billiken Spring Tournament, topping St. Thomas (Minn.) in extras before taking down Saint Louis in back-to-back games.Â
In the tournament finale, Briana Bower got the win out of the bullpen for Illinois. Tori McQueen started the ballgame and went four shutout innings while allowing two hits, walking none and striking out five. The southpaw also picked up her first save of the year.
Stevie Meade led the way offensively for the Fighting Illini, going 3-for-4 in the ballgame with a home run and three RBI. Kelly Ryono furnished a noteworthy day at the dish as well, going 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. Paige Berkmeyer also chipped in, going 3-for-4 for Illinois with an RBI.
BY THE NUMBERS
Illinois comes in at No. 37 in the RPI rankings as of March 11. The mark ranks second in the conference, while Penn State sits atop the rankings among Big Ten programs at No. 29. The Fighting Illini's strength of schedule is fifth, while Illini opponents' strength of schedule is 12th-best. While the team is 2-8 against top-50 teams, the Orange and Blue boast a 6-1 mark against the rest of the field.
LIGHTNING MCQUEEN
Tori McQueen has been stellar during her senior campaign. So far, the southpaw has toss 51.0 innings over the course of 12 games. The Indiana native boasts four complete games, one shutout and 56 strikeouts during the 2024 slate.
Over the course of her career, McQueen has tallied 266Â punchouts, putting the pitcher seventh all-time in the Illini record books. During her senior campaign, McQueen has tallied double-digit strikeouts on two separate occasions. When the southpaw fanned 14 batters against St. Thomas, McQueen etched her name in the history books, yet again, for the fourth-most strikeouts in a single contest.
COMING HOME
The Purple and Gold Challenge served as a homecoming for Fighting Illini head softball coach Tyra Perry. A 1997 and 1998 graduate of LSU, Perry earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology in 1997 and added a master's degree in sports administration in 1998. The Illini's leader became a two-year letterwinner for the Tigers (1997-98), helping the program post a combined 102-28 record over her career, including a 58-14 mark in Southeastern Conference play. She also helped the Tigers pick up a pair of SEC West Division titles and make the program's first-ever NCAA Regional Tournament appearance, in which LSU finished second.
In her first season at LSU, Perry led the Tigers with a .345 batting average, 11 home runs, 40 runs scored, .416 on-base percentage and .612 slugging percentage. Those numbers helped her earn recognition on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-South Region Second Team, as well as First-Team All-Louisiana honors and a spot on the SEC's All-Tournament Team. Perry led the team with five homers in 1998 while posting a .324 average with 29 runs scored and 38 RBI. Off the field, she was twice named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
SWINGING IN THE RAIN
Illinois softball has seen five games canceled due to weather, so far, this season. The Fighting Illini's Saturday slate against Auburn and Belmont at the Tiger Invitational was called off during opening weekend. After playing games against Liberty and Kansas at The Spring Games, the Orange and Blue's final three games of the weekend were canceled.
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Illini softball head coach Tyra Perry is one of 19 Black female head coaches in all of Division-I softball for the 2024 season. Additionally, the Fighting Illini leader is one of just three at the helm for a program in a Power-5 conference, along with Marissa Young at Duke and Sharonda McDonald-Kelley at Michigan State.Â
The 2023 series between Michigan State and Illinois marked the first time two Black female head softball coaches faced off during Big Ten play and was believed to be the first meeting between two Black female head softball coaches at the Power-5 level.
OUT[FIELD] OF THIS WORLD
Illini outfielders Kelly Ryono and Serena Starks earned preseason accolades, courtesy of D1Softball. The publication named the duo in its 2024 Preseason Power Rankings among outfielders.
Ryono came in at 34th, according to the publication. The 2023 All-Big Ten Second-Team member paced the Fighting Illini with a .352 batting average and a .619 slugging percentage in 2023. The Huntington Beach, Calif., native tallied 48 RBI, tying for ninth in the record books for a single season. She also garnered NFCA honors last year, being named to the Midwest All-Region second team.Â
Starks placed 42nd on the power-ranking list, having joined the Fighting Illini for the 2024 slate after spending four seasons at Princeton. The outfielder earned a multitude of accolades following her career with the Tigers, including First-Team NFCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region in 2023, First-Team All-Ivy League in 2022 and 2023, Ivy League All-Tournament Team in 2023, and Honorable-Mention All-ECAC in 2022. During her time in New Jersey, she slashed .384/.412/.457, owning 135 hits and 69 runs with 18 doubles, a triple, and two home runs. In 2023 alone, she led the Ivy League with a .397 average and 69 hits, the most for a Princeton player since 1996.
WELCOME TO THE FAMILLY
The Illinois softball program added seven newcomers this off-season, including a pair of transfers. Reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Serena Starks joined the Illini following a stint at Princeton. Briana Bower returned to her home state following two years at Mississippi State. No stranger to the Illini program, Adisyn Caryl joined sister Zoe Caryl on the Orange and Blue squad.
NEW FACES IN NEW PLACES
The Fighting Illini saw changes in personnel during the offseason. Kirsten Verdun joined the Orange and Blue staff, serving as the Illini's new pitching coach. Verdun spent the last eight seasons at Big Ten foe Wisconsin as the Badgers associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.
An Illini great also joined head coach Tyra Perry's staff, as Sydney Sickels was named an assistant coach this past July. With the NCAA's coaching limit increase going into effect, Sickels was able to join the coaching staff following an impressive career on the field. The Indianola, Iowa, native rewrote the Illinois softball history book during her time in Champaign-Urbana. Sickels closed out her stint in 2023 as the program's leader in career strikeouts (714), strikeouts looking (204), and saves (19). She owns the single-game strikeout record, fanning 21 batters in an extra-inning thriller against Fordham this past season. The NFCA All-Region selection also tossed the 14th and 15th no-hitters in program history.
RYONO TAKES HOME HARDWARE
The 2023 season was one to remember for Kelly Ryono, as the outfielder received NFCA Midwest All-Region Second-Team honors and All-Big Ten Second-Team accolades following her most impressive season in the Orange and Blue.Â
A standout at the plate last season, Ryono tallied a career-best six RBIÂ in a tilt with conference foe Rutgers. Her 12 home runs in 2023 led the Orange and Blue and included her first collegiate grand slam during the Fighting Illini's 13-4 rout of SIUE. Coming into her final season, Ryono owned a .307 batting average with a .484 slugging percentage in 172 games played.Â
MORE THAN A GAME
Prior to the Illini's opening weekend, the team traveled to Selma, Ala., to co-host the 2024 B1G Impact Youth Clinic. The B1G Impact is an initiative of the Big Ten Conference as a part of its commitment to positively impacting communities.Â
LOOKING BACK AT 2023
The Illinois softball team closed out the season with a 29-27 record, including a 6-16 mark in Big Ten action.Â
The season opener against Southern marked a special occasion for head coach Tyra Perry, as the matchup was against Perry's sister, Brittney Williams. Against Fordham on opening weekend, Sydney Sickels broke the career strikeouts record and the single-game record when she fanned 21 batters in the 6-4 victory over the Rams in extra innings.
The Fighting Illini hosted the Big Ten Tournament for the first time in program history and continued to etch their name in the Big Ten record books. The Orange and Blue became the first-ever 12-seed to take down a 5-seed at the event, topping Wisconsin, 8-4.
Kelly Ryono and Kailee Powell were named to the All-Big Ten Second Team, while Delaney Rummell was an All-Defensive Team selection. Miranda Gallardo was the team's Sportsmanship honoree.
THIS YEAR'S BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
The 2024 Big Ten Softball Tournament will be held in Iowa City, Iowa, at Bob Pearl Field. Of the 14 teams in the Big Ten, 12 qualify for the single-elimination tournament. This is the first time that Iowa has hosted the conference event since 2003.
