The Illinois softball team’s strength of schedule is ranked 11th toughest in the nation and has been ranked as high as fourth this season.

The RPI ranking that doubles as a team’s national ranking in NCAA softball includes a rating for each team’s strength of schedule, which benefits Illinois’ ranking as it looks to turn its season around after losing 10 of its last 11 games.

Head coach Terri Sullivan is known for creating tough schedules for her teams to play and explained that deciding to play so many difficult opponents at the beginning of the year was designed to prepare the team for a tough conference season.

“We took some big hits from some talented teams early,” Sullivan said. “We didn’t really grab an opportunity to get one of those big victories over a top-10 team, but we saw that when we were playing great Illinois softball, we were an awfully tough team.”

Illinois’ first game of the year was against No. 1 Alabama, and it has played nine total games against top-25 teams — including contests against No. 6 Texas and No. 8 California.

The Illini’s first and only win over a top-25 opponent was against No. 24 Nebraska on March 30, which was also the last time they won a game. Sullivan’s team has gone 1-8 against top-25 teams.

“You don’t want to just play a great schedule and not come away with any wins,” Sullivan said.

Illinois has also gone 1-8 against Big Ten teams thus far in the season — a result Sullivan had prepared her team to avoid.

“We have a very young lineup, and obviously that means for great experience,” Sullivan said. “Our first-year players are getting a lot of terrific game experience under their belt at an elite level with the schedule we play. You have to get used to the competition at this level, but they’re growing as players.”

Freshman first baseman Remeny Perez agreed that facing the nation’s best teams was something that helped the young roster mature, but said the Illini have not used that experience to their advantage at this point in the season.

“We play a ranked team and it doesn’t faze us at all,” sophomore outfielder Brittany Sanchez said. “It’s just another game, and now it’s just natural to play them.”

Currently, the Illini have no more games scheduled against nationally ranked teams, but they have struggled lately even with easier competition.

The Illini look to use their experience and facing an easier level of competition to their advantage, as they finish out the season against familiar conference rivals.

“In the Big Ten,” Sullivan said, “you better bounce back right away.”

Sean can be reached at [email protected] and @NeumanntheHuman.