One and done: Illinois softball crash out of Big Ten Championships in quarterfinals
Catcher Bella Loya lines up her throw during a game against Penn State on May 7. Loya made an RBI during the BIG Ten match at Ohio State, unfortunately the Illini were unable to secure a victory with a 1-5 Loss.
May 15, 2022
No. 3 Illinois saw its Big Ten tournament run end just as soon as it started against No. 6 Ohio State in the quarterfinal round of the competition. Hopes of ending the team’s two-game losing streak and making a deep postseason run ended on Thursday, as the Illini lost 5-1.
The team ended its regular season 34-20 (.630) before entering the Big Ten tournament.
Illinois ended the regular season with back-to-back losses versus Penn State, but remained hopeful for their game against Ohio State. Being the 3 seed, the team was rewarded with a bye, allowing them to continue practicing whilst Ohio State played No. 11 Purdue on Wednesday to see which of them would face Illinois in the next round.
The two teams faced off on Thursday afternoon at Secchia Stadium in East Lansing, Mich. The game started slow with the first runs finally being scored in the third inning, which saw Ohio State take a 4-0 lead. The game then remained slow until the seventh inning in which both teams scored one more run before the end of the match, leaving the final score 5-1.
Freshman pitcher Lauren Wiles gave up 4 runs in 2.2 innings pitched, but countered that with 0 errors. Senior pitcher Sydney Sickels pitched 4.1 innings where she gave up one run and had one error. However, she led the team in strikeouts with 5. Sophomore infielder Megan Ward was the only run out of the six hits the offense created with, grad student catcher Bella Loya creating the only RBI on offense as well.
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The Ohio State defense had a stellar performance, which can truly be seen in the fact that grad student pitcher Lexie Handley only had one strikeout in her 7 innings pitched. Thursday just wasn’t Illinois’ day.
Head coach Tyra Perry and the rest of the lineup now await the rest of their postseason fate with the NCAA selection show this week. Capping off the regular season ranked just outside the top-30, Illinois is on the cusp of being included in the postseason for another few weeks.
