Entering the weekend, the Illinois softball team boasted a five-game winning streak and second baseman Danielle Zymkowitz was riding a 14-game hitting streak.

But the Illini saw both streaks come to an end before the first day of the Cox Communication Invitational was over.

The Fighting Illini (12-7) stretched their streak to six consecutive victories, defeating Texas Tech 8-2 in game one of the tournament on Friday in Gainesville, Fla.

Zymkowitz extended her hitting streak to 15 games with a first-inning single against Texas Tech, and the sophomore added an RBI single in the sixth inning.

Freshman first baseman Meredith Hackett sealed the Illinois victory with her third long ball of the season, a three-run blast in the seventh.

But in game two of the day, Pacific (6-7-1) put an end to both Illinois streaks as it defeated the Fighting Illini 11-2 and held Zymkowitz hitless, though she managed to reach base via a walk.

The sophomore’s 15-game streak stands as second best in school history to senior catcher Lana Armstrong, who hit in 18 straight games in 2007.

But Zymkowitz wasn’t paying much attention to the streak.

“Some of my teammates were telling me,” Zymkowitz said. “It was OK; it was a good little run for me.”

For Zymkowitz, the real goal is helping her team win.

“The more I get on, the more it will create (opportunities) for the lineup, so whenever I get on I feel like I’m going to score,” Zymkowitz said. “The more I get on, the more the team will win, so I’m just trying to put the team in the best position to win games.”

Illinois (12-7) rebounded to defeat the University of South Florida 6-0 on Saturday, but it ran into a brick wall in No. 2 Florida in the second game of the day.

The Illini scored just one run against Florida on a fourth-inning RBI single by Hackett. Meanwhile, four different Gators had RBIs as Florida defeated the Fighting Illini 9-1 in a run-rule six-inning victory.

“Ultimately, we didn’t make plays and didn’t handle pressure that was put on us and kind of the pace of the game got a little bit out of control for our team and we learned from that,” head coach Terri Sullivan said. “(You) have to give credit where credit’s due; they’re by far one of the best offensive teams, actually complete teams. They have solid pitching, solid defense and hitters that have improved even from last year when they went to the (Women’s College) World Series.”

But the Illini learned from Saturday’s loss and returned with an improved mind-set on Sunday.

“We just sort of like took it to them in the first inning just to show them that we were there, ready to play this time and we didn’t want to back down, we wanted to put up a fight,” Zymkowitz said.

Despite the improved approach and Zymkowitz’s first career home run, the Illini fell to the Gators 7-2 Sunday.

For sophomore left fielder Hollie Pinchback, the team’s youth and the fact it’s still adjusting to playing together contributed to the weekend’s losses.

“We lost communication all together, and it just got really quiet and the other team kind of fed off of it,” Pinchback said.

“We’re really just trying to work hard on staying intense and staying talking the whole game just so we’re never confused about what we’re supposed to do in certain situations no matter what happens.”

Sullivan is confident her team will continue to improve as the season progresses, and playing competition like No. 2 Florida is a good way to assess its strengths and weaknesses.

“This team has seen all competition and we know where we stack up, we know how we can grow and nobody’s afraid of working hard,” Sullivan said.

“It’s a very together team that is going to push each other and understands that ultimately it’s team first and you have to be tough both physically and mentally to grow and to win championships.”