Illinois softball (18-26, 5-11) bounced back against Michigan State on Sunday to complete a 2-1 series win. Both wins in the series came with senior pitcher Tori McQueen on the mound.
Illinois started the series with a victory with a final score of 8-6. Graduate student outfielder Kelly Ryono played a massive part in the triumph, hitting her eighth home run of the year. She was given the leadoff nod in all three games.
Head coach Tyra Perry has played around with the leadoff position, typically giving it to Ryono most of the season. Ryono came through in the series, going 5-12 for the three games.
“We’re just looking for somebody that’s going to take hacks, that has confidence at the plate,” Perry said. “Your leadoff has to be confident and has to take hacks and has to represent our aggressive mentality.”
Junior pitcher Lauren Wiles was on the mound for game two, where she went six innings, striking out only one batter in the entire game. Despite the loss, Illinois scored first after getting a bases-loaded situation at the start of game two, but the team would only score one run.
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Michigan State answered back immediately, putting up four unanswered runs and leading 4-1 in the top of the fourth. Illinois would then cut the score differential to one run off a fielding error and RBI single by freshman infielder Adisyn Caryl.
Michigan State responded with a fielder’s choice by junior infielder Mik Anthony. Sophomore outfielder Sydney Doloszycki scored off a ground out hit by junior catcher Macy Lee. The Spartans held on to the lead despite a failed comeback from the Illini in the top of the seventh.
Game three saw McQueen take the mound against the Spartans again. McQueen had a solid outing, going for seven innings with seven strikeouts and only giving up three runs.
“This win gives us a lot of momentum,” McQueen said. “We made the adjustments we needed to and just went from there.”
The final game of this series was all Illinois in the early going, putting up five runs in the first inning. Ryono was a key contributor in these five runs as she started the game with a single.
Ryono was brought home on a bunt by junior utility player Paige Berkmeyer. Senior utility player Abby Ryniec brought two more home for Illinois, making the score 3-0. Two more were scored off an error made by Michigan State and a sac-fly, pushing the score to 5-0.
Illinois held on to a 5-1 lead going into fourth. Ryono put up another single, but this time for an RBI to push it to 6-1. Michigan State tried to rally back in the bottom of the fifth, but it was too much to overcome, and Illinois ended up on top.
Illinois continues its road trip on Tuesday against DePaul University, with the first pitch scheduled at 3 p.m.
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