By the time Wednesday’s doubleheader against Indiana was over, pitcher Monica Perry had secured two more entries in the Illini record books. The freshman struck out 19 Hoosiers on the night, giving her a total of 186 strikeouts for the season. It’s the most in a single season in Illinois history.

In game two, Perry tallied 11 strikeouts, good for second place in a single game in the history of the program.

“It’s nice to be able to do something like that,” Perry said. “Just as long as we win, or whatever it takes to win, I’m happy with.”

Perry held Indiana to just one hit in game one and her offense did the rest, defeating the Hoosiers 5-0. In game two, the Illini grabbed the come-from-behind 3-2 victory.

Senior catcher Lana Armstrong led the way for the Illini offense in game one. The catcher was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

“That’s what you expect your senior captain and a terrific offensive player for us to do,” head coach Terri Sullivan said. “She’s seeing the ball better than she was earlier and has made some adjustments to do just that — time it, see it and she’s a terrific hitter, so if her timing’s down, she’ll go on a big run here, and we’re expecting her to do that.”

The big inning for Illinois (24-12, 7-4) came in the third as three Illini crossed the plate. After a leadoff double by junior right fielder Hope Howell, Armstrong doubled, driving in Howell.

Freshman first baseman Kelley Wedel got in to the action too, smacking an RBI single and scoring on a passed ball.

In game two, Indiana drew first blood on a home run by senior first baseman Ashley Hobbs. The Hoosiers (7-30, 3-9) tacked on another run in the third.

But the Illini mounted a comeback in the fourth on back-to-back home runs by freshman first baseman Meredith Hackett and sophomore shortstop Ashley Conrad.

“We needed momentum, so I wasn’t going up there trying to think a home run, I was going up there trying to think a hit,” Conrad said. “We needed it for our team to back up (Perry). I had made an error previously, so I wanted to come back and help out our team in any way, and that just kind of happened.”

Perry escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth with three consecutive strikeouts.

“She again was a leader, and I think she is showing more and more leadership qualities by being in control of both the mental side of her game and the physical side of her game,” Sullivan said. “Watch out when she’s got both of those in sync because she’s awfully tough.”

Conrad came through again in the bottom of the seventh, walking with the bases loaded to give the Orange and Blue the victory.

The win was one the Illini needed, dropping two games last weekend against then-No. 16 Ohio State.

“We’ve got a lot of tough games ahead of us,” Sullivan said. “We feel our opponents do as well, so our main focus is being in the elite at the top of the conference, and that’s really what we’re focusing on at this point.”

Illinois must continue solid play, as the team will host conference foe Michigan in a two-game series this upcoming weekend.