A weekend that began with promise saw familiar problems and tired arms, ending what could have been an outstanding outing.

Opening up against the host of the tournament, the Illini sent out sophomore ace Addy Jarvis to shut down the Cardinals. With the pressure of not having an elite offense backing her, Jarvis still pitched efficiently. However, things didn’t start picture perfect for the Illini ace.

After the Cardinals retired the side, they came out focused at the plate with leadoff hitter Celene Funke getting it started with a single. Funke stole second base and advanced to third on a passed ball, setting up the Cardinals to take an early lead. After striking out the next batter, Jarvis and the infield got caught off guard, giving up a successful squeeze bunt. After one inning, the Cardinals led 1-0.

Three more innings went by, and the Illini were still hitless and had to get creative. With one out, freshman third baseman Delaney Rummell showed discipline at the plate, working the count to three balls before getting hit by the pitch.

Illinois head coach Tyra Perry elected to send in sophomore pinch runner Zaria Dunlap for Rummell to give the Illini more speed. Almost immediately, Dunlap stole second and ended up taking third base, too, after Louisville catcher Cassidy Greenwood’s throw went into center field.

Tasked with getting the runner home, junior catcher Bella Loya put the ball into play and, with a little help from a Cardinals error, drove in Dunlap. Despite still being no-hit at this point, the game was tied 1-1.

The pitchers’ duel continued throughout the rest of the game, resulting in extra innings. Facing two outs in the top of the eighth, Rummell jumpstarted the offense with a single to keep the inning alive. After working the count, Loya drove the ball into the gap, scoring Rummel and giving the Illini a late 2-1 lead.

Electing to stay with her starter turned out to be a good decision for Perry, as Jarvis shut down the Cardinals, recording three straight outs to secure a tight 2-1 victory.

“We are still trying to find our identity, but we kept fighting and kept believing we have what it takes to win a close game,” Perry said, per Illini Athletics. “Addy Jarvis stood tall today on the mound against a very good Louisville team. Addy is a competitor and she showed a ton of leadership today.”

The team got a little rest until their next game against an Oakland team that was coming off back-to-back losses to start the tournament.

Sophomore Sydney Sickels came out strong to start the game, retiring the first ten batters she faced. The problem was Oakland pitcher Sydney Campbell dominated too, retiring the first six batters.

Junior first baseman Maddison Demers and freshman left fielder Kelly Ryono woke up the offense in the fifth inning with a pair of singles, throwing off the dealing Campbell. After sophomore Kailee Powell reached base with a walk, Rummell had the chance to break the game wide open. Although it wasn’t a hit, Rummell put the ball in play and Oakland wasn’t able to recover, recording an error and giving Illinois a 2-0 lead.

After adding an insurance run in the sixth inning to take a 3-0 lead, Sickels gave up a leadoff home run to start off the seventh inning. Unrattled, Sickels recovered to retire the next three batters to finish off another complete game and give the Illini a 3-1 victory.

“We are excited about the way Sydney Sickels was able to keep the Oakland hitters off-balance today,” Perry said, per Illini Athletics. “Maddison Demers was the spark for our offense. Her focused at-bats showed a ton of character and toughness.”

The Illini looked to carry that momentum into their next game: a rematch against the host of the tournament.

Sickels, despite pitching just hours earlier, was given the call to pitch again. The lack of rest seemed to catch up to the sophomore.

After the two teams battled it out for the first few innings, the Cardinals’ bats erupted, knocking Sickels around with extra-base hits, including a home run, to give Louisville a 3-0 lead.

The Illini responded well, though, showing signs of offensive life and scoring two runs via a Rummell home run, trimming the Cardinals’ lead to 3-2.

Sickels started to find her groove and held the Cardinals scoreless for the next few innings to keep the Illini in the game. Illinois eventually cashed in on her late-game awakening, with Loya hitting a triple and scoring on a fielder’s choice to tie it up at 3-3 before the final frame.

After going scoreless in the top of the seventh, Perry pulled Sickels in favor of Jarvis to extend the game. One out away from going into extras again with Louisville, an Illinois throwing error allowed a Cardinal base runner to score, giving them a 4-3 walk-off victory.

“It is always tough when you have a chance to win two but come away empty-handed,” Perry said, per Illini Athletics.

The Illini had the rest of the day to recover before their Sunday afternoon game against Evansville. The Purple Aces, who were previously slaughtered by Northwestern, 9-1, appeared to be a good bounce-back game for the Illini. They didn’t get the memo, though.

Evansville came ready to play and capitalize on the Illini mistakes. After getting a few runners on base via errors and singles — already having a 1-0 lead— Jarvis gave up a three-run shot, extending the Purple Aces’ lead to 4-0.

Evansville wasn’t ready to take its foot off the gas, ambushing Jarvis with a triple and a double in the next inning to balloon the lead to 6-0, cementing this as Jarvis’ worst performance this season.

The Illini responded back a little bit with one run in the 5th inning, but that work was quickly undone when freshman pitcher Taylor Murray — the only other pitcher on the Illini staff to record an inning besides Sickels and Jarvis — gave up three more runs to give Evansville a 9-1 lead.

Needing to score a couple runs to avoid slaughter rule, the Illini bats came up empty with the bases loaded, which ended the game after the sixth inning.

“We are still working to figure out how to bring high energy and effort to each game,” Perry said, per Illini Athletics. “We have a chance at becoming a great team but we have to bring our best offense, defense and mentality every day.”

Illinois looks to bounce back with one more road game against Missouri before coming back home for the first time all year to host the Fighting Illini Tournament against Bowling Green and Green Bay.

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