It’s perfect timing.

Illinois (19-25, 9-11 Big Ten) is riding an eight-game winning streak heading into its match with Southern Illinois (24-25, 12-10 Missouri Valley) on Wednesday and will look to extend it to nine in Carbondale, Ill.

The Illini’s recent streak has catapulted the team from the bottom of the Big Ten into a tie for sixth place with Ohio State — which Illinois will play in its final series of the regular season — and has gone from a 1-11 start in conference-play to currently holding a 9-11 record in the Big Ten.

Illinois climbed up to 71st in the latest NCAA RPI rankings — a 19-spot jump from last week when the team was ranked 90th in the country.

Illinois’ offense has driven the team as of late, outscoring its opponents 54-16 during its eight-game streak — including three games the Illini won by the mercy rule.

“It’s better late than never,” freshman Allie Bauch said.

Bauch, last week’s Big Ten Freshman of the Week, has had nine hits and eight RBIs during the winning streak. She is part of Illinois offense that has suddenly become explosive to the tune of 30 hits and scored 23 runs in its sweep over Michigan State last weekend.

“We’ve been stringing our hits together really well,” Bauch said. “We finally found an offensive lineup that works well together.”

The energized lineup will be a challenge for the Salukis’ pitching staff — the weakest point in Southern Illinois’ team.

The Salukis’ go-to pitcher in the circle this season has been Brittney Lang, who has a 4.37 ERA this season.

Lang (12-14) has appeared in 40 of the Salukis’ 49 games, completing 13 of them. She has struggled, allowing 231 hits and allowing 147 runs (113 earned) in 181 innings pitched.

Senior pitcher Pepper Gay said the recent offensive production has taken a lot of pressure off the team’s pitching staff.

“It’s much easier going out there knowing if they get one or two runs, it’s not the end of (our scoring for) the game,” Gay said. 

Gay has four wins in her last four starts since losing seven straight, while sophomore Shelese Arnold has also won her last four games — including throwing two complete-game shutouts in consecutive games against Indiana.

The team’s sweep of Indiana was the turning point in the pitching staff’s dramatic shift in performance.

“I’ve really felt back to my old self,” Gay said. “This winning streak is giving us a lot of confidence.”

Sullivan said she is pleased with Gay’s turnaround late in the season.

“She’s a great leader,” Sullivan said. “Her team has picked her up as well, scoring some runs for her.” 

The Illini pitching staff must continue its dominance in the circle against an evenly balanced Salukis offense.

Nine of Southern Illinois’ 15 batters are batting between .200 and .300, contributing to a mediocre offense that has been no-hit twice and held to two or fewer runs 12 times this season.

Senior outfielder Morgan Barchan is the best Salukis hitter, reaching base 90 times this year and scoring 42 runs with a .364 average, while junior Jayna Spivey is close behind, batting .312 with 48 hits on the year.

Head coach Terri Sullivan said the team needs to remain focused on practice and winning one game at a time, especially going up against a well-coached Southern Illinois team in its final nonconference game.

“We’ve gotten this far by not getting ahead of ourselves,” Sullivan said. “Win or lose, you’re only as good as your next game.”

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