Junior outfielder Stevie Meade and Illinois softball (15-22, 2-7) take on a Purdue team that is currently on a six-game win streak. These games are a part of Illinois’ Strikeout Cancer weekend.
“It’s a great weekend to bring awareness and just all come together as one family,” Meade said. “We all have a person or we know somebody that we are playing for in the Strikeout Cancer series. It brings so much perspective to the game and also just life in general.”
The three-game series caps a five-game home stand after Illinois dropped the opening two games. Illinois was outscored 14-1 across both games. Senior utility player Abby Ryniec hit an RBI single against Southern Illinois to score Illinois’ only run.
Ryniec and the rest of the team have a tough challenge ahead of them. Purdue is riding a large wave of momentum that’s seen them win six in a row, moving their record to .500. Purdue currently sits at 18-18 on the season and is 5-4 in the conference, placing them seventh in the conference.
“I don’t think it’s more about Purdue. I just think it’s about ourselves,” Ryniec said. “I just think we need to get in the lab tomorrow and just work on what we need to work on, our mental, our physical, just get better.”
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Purdue currently stands at the bottom of the conference in batting average, only batting .269 as a team. This has them tied for 11th in the conference alongside Wisconsin. Illinois is currently third in the conference in the category, hitting .305.
Sophomore outfielder Khloe Banks leads Purdue in batting average and currently ranks 12th in the conference hitting for a .368 batting average. On the mound, junior pitcher Kendall Klochak leads Purdue’s pitchers in ERA throwing for a 4.35 and a win-loss record of 4-3.
Head coach Tyra Perry is currently 16-4 against Purdue in her tenure at Illinois while the program is 33-18 all-time. Illinois is looking to bounce back after these back-to-back losses.
“We’re gonna go out and prepare because, again, this is just pushing past your limits type of thing for us,” Perry said. “Right now, we’re putting up these invisible walls. We’re gonna get after it tomorrow.”
The last matchup between Illinois and Purdue saw the Illini take a 9-4 victory in West Lafayette on March 27, 2022. Senior pitcher Tori Mcqueen was the starter in the matchup and picked up the win.
The series begins Friday, April 12, with the first pitch at 5 p.m. Game two follows on Saturday with a 1 p.m. start before the finale at noon on Sunday. All three games will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
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