University of Illinois
South Dakota
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Cardinal Classic Awaits Fighting Illini Softball
March 14, 2024 | Softball
Preview
| Cardinal Classic Awaits Illinois (8-11) | |
|---|---|
| When & Where | March 15-17 // Louisville, Ky. // Ulmer Stadium |
| Friday, March 15 |
South Dakota // 2 p.m. CT |
Saturday, March 16 |
Dartmouth // 12 p.m. CT |
Sunday, March 17 |
Michigan // 11:30 a.m. CT Louisville // 4 p.m. CT |
| Series History |
South Dakota // First Meeting |
| Television | |
| Stats | Live Stats |
| Notes | Illinois // South Dakota // Louisville // Dartmouth // Michigan |
| Social Media | @IlliniSB  | @IlliniSB  | Facebook  | YouTube  |
CARDINAL CLASSIC AWAITS FIGHTING ILLINI SOFTBALL
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois softball hits the road for its final regular-season tournament as the team heads to the Cardinal Classic hosted by Louisville. The team will battle South Dakota, Dartmouth, Michigan and the host Cardinals during the three-day affair. Friday's game against Louisville is slated for ACCNX, while Sunday's game will air on ACC Network.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois went 0-2 in a midweek doubleheader with #11 Mizzou on Wednesday. In the first contest against the Tigers, a 5-4 loss, Tori McQueen got the ball to start for Illinois, and despite taking the loss, the southpaw went the distance and struck out nine batters. Offensively, the Fighting Illini were led by Stevie Meade, who went 2-for-4 on the day with a home run and three RBI. During the 10-2 loss in five innings in the second game of the day, Kelly Ryono notched her third home run of the year.
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota owns a 14-13 record this season, having won two of its last three games. The Coyotes have played two Big Ten teams – Ohio State and Purdue – this year, boasting an 0-4 record in those contests.
While the team is batting .238 on the year, Alecea Mendoza paces the squad with a .313 batting average and 12 walks on the season. Coyote pitchers own a 2.83 ERA in 2024, with Clara Edwards seeing the bulk of the work, making 15 appearances across 77.2 innings of work and amassing 75 strikeouts.
Friday's game will be the first meeting between the teams.
LOOKING AHEAD TO LOUISVILLE
Louisville comes into the tournament at 16-8 with a 2-3 mark on its home field. The Cardinals have lost three straight, having been swept by #20 Virginia Tech during the first weekend of ACC play.
As a team, the Cardinals boast a .287 batting average, with Chelsea Mack coming into the tournament with a .362 batting average and a .413 on-base percentage. The Louisville pitching staff owns a 3.11 ERA, with Alyssa Zabala posting a 2.18 ERA and 55 strikeouts this year.
Illinois is 7-4 all-time against the Cardinals. The Orange and Blue picked up a pair of wins last year at the ACC/B1G Challenge in Atlanta.
CHECKING IN WITH DARTMOUTH
Dartmouth enters the weekend at 2-4, having won games against Butler, 4-3, and Bellarmine, 2-0.
The team holds a .253 batting average, with Ashley Frantz leading the way at .500 for the year. In her six starts, the sophomore has six hits, two runs and has been walked twice. In the circle, the Big Green staff owns a 4.61 ERA, with Jensin Hall pacing the squad with 29 punchouts.
Illinois boasts a 2-0 record against the Big Green, with the last meeting between the teams taking place in 2022.
REVIEWING MICHIGAN
Michigan comes into the weekend at 13-10 on the year with a 12-5 neutral-site record. The Wolverines were 2-1 last weekend at the NKU Spring Classic, topping Bowling Green and Illinois State but falling to Northern Kentucky.
As a team, Michigan boasts a .242 batting average, while Maddie Erickson leads the way through 23 games, hitting .348 with three home runs. The Wolverine squad boasts a 2.16 ERA, with Lauren Derkowski pacing the team with a 1.68 ERA and 62 strikeouts.
Illinois is 9-28 all-time against Michigan. Sunday's meeting is the only one scheduled for this season, as the teams will not duke it out during Big Ten play.
BY THE NUMBERS
Illinois comes in at No. 43 in the RPI rankings as of March 14. The mark ranks third in the conference, while Penn State sits atop the rankings among Big Ten programs at No. 32 and Indiana closely behind at No. 39. The Fighting Illini's strength of schedule is third, while Illini opponents' strength of schedule is 21st-best. While the team is 2-10 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 58.0 innings over the course of 13 games. The Indiana native boasts five complete games, one shutout and 65 strikeouts during the 2024 slate.
Over the course of her career, McQueen has tallied 275 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.
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.
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.
A standout at the plate last season, Ryono tallied a career-best six RBI 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.
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.
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.
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.
