Illinois’ weekend series against Minnesota was odd, to say the least.

Minnesota (25-13, 8-3 Big Ten) swept Illinois (11-25, 1-10), who played this weekend’s three games at home as a road team after a winter storm in Minneapolis forced the teams to relocate the series. The Illini squared off against a Gophers offense that saw almost all of its power come from its leadoff hitter.

“We have to take our hats off to (Tyler) Walker,” head coach Terri Sullivan said. “She single-handedly carried her team on her back and really delivered some blows to us at key times. We had opportunities to get her out, and when we didn’t, she made us pay. She deserves National Player of the Week for what she did this weekend.”

Walker went 6-for-7 on the weekend with five RBI and six runs, including a three-run homer in the third game just one pitch after Illinois failed to catch a pop-up in foul territory.

“We don’t think we look like an 11-25 team,” Sullivan said. “We look like we can do some good things, and now we just have to do it. We also had a little bit of our mojo back today, and we needed that. Obviously, we just have to play that next game and do some things better.”

The Illini started their weekend with a doubleheader Saturday, in which the team gave up 17 total walks. Minnesota capitalized on Illinois’ mistakes and won both games 5-1 and 2-0, respectively.

“(Shelese Arnold) really threw well,” Sullivan said. “When Pepper (Gay) threw aggressive pitches, she was pretty tough to face, and Jackie (Guy) had a lot of courage and got out of a bases-loaded jam. We had a couple walks there, so we gotta work to clean that up and trust that defense.”

Guy added that the defense played well, and the pitchers still have to step up and focus on limiting the walks. She felt the Illini gave too many free passes, which hurt the team over the weekend. 

Though Illinois came into the weekend struggling on offense, it was still able to put the ball in play and get some much-needed hits.

“We did a better job,” Sullivan said. “We were facing one of the best pitchers in the country, who gets her strikeouts, but we put the ball in play from the start. Some of our players, who have been dying for a hit, focused on putting the ball in play, and we got some hits after that.”

Freshman outfielder Jade Smith added that the hits came in succession and in key moments where there weren’t as many strikeouts.

Defensively, the Illini were solid all weekend, highlighted by freshman Allie Bauch recording an unassisted double play in the third game, and Smith and sophomore Brittany Sanchez making critical catches near the wall.

The Illini seemed energized in the third game and came out swinging. Illinois traded runs with Minnesota and brought what was a 5-1 lead to 5-3 before the Gophers pulled away and won the third game 9-3.

“Today I thought our team was right there,” Sullivan said. “We’re battling, but there are still some critical times in the game where we still have to make plays, whether that’s pitching better strikes or getting those key hits.”

Sullivan said the team still believes it is better than what its record says, and that the fight it showed against Minnesota this weekend proved it. But looking forward, Guy said the team has one thought in mind.

“I think we just need to go on a run right now.” 

Nicholas can be reached at [email protected] and @IlliniSportsGuy.