Playing for the first time in two weeks, the Illinois softball team was able to close its weekend at the FAU Tournament in Boca Raton, Fla., with a win after three consecutive losses.

Illinois lost twice to No. 14 South Alabama and once to Florida Atlantic before beating Hofstra.

“I give a lot of credit to who we played,” head coach Terri Sullivan said. “But I’ve also got to give credit to a lot of the excellent pitchers we faced. We pushed through, seeing the balls really well. We just didn’t produce on that.”

Saturday saw Illinois take two losses, losing 5-3 to South Alabama and 8-4 against host Florida Atlantic.

In the first defeat to South Alabama, senior Alex Booker went 3-for-4 with two runs and two stolen bases. Freshman Ruby Rivera hit a solo home run.

Freshman pitcher Brandi Needham allowed three earned runs on just four hits and no walks, striking out five. But she also allowed her first home runs of the season, which were responsible for the three earned runs.

After tying the game at three in the third, South Alabama went ahead for good with a two-run homer from junior Alex Breeden.

“I think not playing for a little bit kind of hurt,” Booker said. “But overall the team came together really well.”

In the Florida Atlantic loss, Illinois had 10 hits but allowed a season-high 14 to the Owls. Sophomore Remeny Perez went 2-for-4 with a home run. All three pitchers — junior Shelese Arnold, Needham and freshman Jade Vecvanags — saw the mound, with Arnold starting.

The Illini tied it in the second at 1-1 after Florida Atlantic scored first, but the game was all the Owls after that. Florida Atlantic had a four-run fifth inning from which Illinois failed recover.

Illinois returned Sunday after its two losses to face South Alabama for a second chance at an upset followed by a final game against Hofstra. Both games went to an extra inning; however, Illinois split its Sunday matchups with a 5-2 loss to South Alabama and a 2-0 win against Hofstra.

In the second loss to South Alabama, the Jaguars scored two in the top of the first. The Illini finally answered back in the bottom of the seventh with a game-tying RBI single from Kylie Johnson that sent the game into extras. Arnold was able to hold the Jaguars at two until they had a two-out, two-run triple from junior Alyssa Linn in the top of the eighth followed by an RBI single from sophomore Stephanie Pilkington.  

Not wanting to close out the weekend with a losing sweep, the Illini came back strong in their final game against Hofstra. Illinois’ Needham pitched an eighth-inning shutout, limiting Hofstra to just four hits and a walk while striking out three.

“I just really focused on getting my drop balls to work and hitting the corners,” Needham said. “Yesterday, I was just all over the place and pitches were hanging over the middle of the plate. You can’t do that here.”

The Illini came to life with Booker going 3-for-3 and Rivera going 2-for-3, but it wasn’t until the eighth inning that Illinois scored off a two-run home run from junior Jess Perkins and came away with the win.

“We just stuck to our game plan, were more aggressive and played with heart,” Booker said. “We played to win rather than just settling on a game and knowing you have more innings to play. It’s about acting like every inning is the last inning you are going to play.”

Charlotte can be reached at [email protected].