CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois softball welcomes Iowa to Eichelberger Field, March 13-15, for its first home series and first series of Big Ten Play. Friday's game is also the first FamILLy Friday of the season, where fans can purchase four bags of popcorn, four hot dogs, and four soft drinks for $40 (excludes smart water and sweet tea). All three games can be streamed on B1G+.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois finished its preseason slate at the Cardinal Classic in Louisville, Ky., defeating LIU on day one, before falling to Ball State, and then Louisville in a pair of games. In the March 8 loss to Louisville, shortstop Ava Moore was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, driving in a pair of RBIs. The game is Moore's first of the season with three or more hits.
MOORE MILESTONES
Moore leads the 2026 Fighting Illini with eight sacrifice hits, which ties her for ninth in program history, alongside Kylie Johnson (2016), Sam Acosta (2018), and Kiana Sherlund (2019). The record is 13 sacrifice hits, set by Stevie Meade in 2022.
Head Coach Tyra Perry is also nearing a milestone of her own, sitting just six victories away from 300 for her career at Illinois. She could achieve the milestone as early as March 20 against Northwestern.
CLUTCH CARYL
A 2026 B1G Player to Watch, Adisyn Caryl continues to offer a steady presence at the plate for Illinois. She leads the team with a .397 batting average, adding four hits in four games at the Cardinal Classic in Louisville. Caryl owns five multi-RBI games and eight multi-hit games, both team bests. Prior to Sunday's game against the Cardinals, she held a 14-game reached base streak that was finally snapped.
SKY'S THE LIMIT
Junior college transfer Skylar Brennan has stepped up big for Illinois, notching five hits in four games at the Cardinal Classic, including a pair of doubles. Brennan sits just behind Caryl with seven multi-hit games on the year, and her current hitting streak sits at seven games.
NEW FACES IN THE CROWD
Illinois has seen a multitude of young players make immediate impacts, including Brooke Stang, who logged her first career start, base hit and stolen base all in one game against Louisville on March 8. Eden Echevarria earned her first Illinois start against the Cardinals, registering her first double of the season.
IN THE CIRCLE
Freshman Abby Sabalaskey owns a staff-best 2.90 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 39 strikeouts, along with a 5-5 record through 16 appearances. Senior Karley Yergler picked up a complete-game victory against LIU at the Cardinal Classic, lowering her season ERA to 3.82.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Hawkeyes have already played three common opponents this year, Campbell, LSU, and Western Kentucky. Iowa defeated Western Kentucky, 8-6, split two games against the Camels in North Carolina, and fell to LSU, 5-3.
In its opening Big Ten series against Ohio State, Iowa took one of three games, a 9-1 victory in five innings on Friday, March 6. Avery Sapp went the complete game in the circle, conceding just three hits. Sapp owns a staff-best 3.44 ERA in 38.2 innings pitched.
Tory Bennett and Devin Simon have paced the Hawkeyes at the plate. Simon leads the Hawkeyes in batting average (.403), hits (27), on-base percentage (.494), and stolen bases (10-for-11), while Bennett owns the most runs (21), home runs (7) and highest OPS (1.236).
SERIES HISTORY
Illinois holds the edge in the all-time series, 31-28. The first meeting between the sides was a 1-0 victory at home for the Fighting Illini, on April 15, 2001. Most recently, the Hawkeyes have won three of the last five contests, all of which occurred at Eichelberger Field. The longest winning streak in the series was from April 2015 to April 2019, when the Orange and Blue emerged victorious in 13 consecutive games against Iowa.
