Illinois softball just keeps winning.

After a nine-game losing streak earlier in the season, the team has reeled off nine straight wins. The Illini (20-25, 9-11 Big Ten) look to continue their winning ways this weekend in their final conference series of the year, a three-game home series against Ohio State (32-19, 9-11).

“This winning streak we’re on is really good because it has given us a lot of confidence,” senior pitcher Pepper Gay said. “We have the ability to win games, but we’ll need to momentum on our side to win out the rest of the season.”

Illinois has been productive offensively since its midseason turnaround, seeming to have a different player step up in a big situation each game.

“We’re particularly pleased with the offensive showing we’ve had,” head coach Terri Sullivan said. “We’ve been seeing our offense hit from top to bottom and different people step up with big hits. … We expect a big week this week.”

It was freshman Allie Bauch who stepped up last week, garnering Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors. She said that the award was unexpected.

“I was surprised with that. We just had a really great weekend as a team. Getting that was an honor and awesome and a really great feeling.”

Sullivan said the team has maintained success by staying in the moment.

“Win or lose, you’re only as good as your next game, so you have to stay very focused on just that,” Sullivan said. “We have to keep coming to practice and keep preparing for the next game. We’re just going to need to play well, be very aggressive offensively, pitch well, throw strikes and make the plays we have to make.”

Illinois has also been able to get more successive hits then they had been getting earlier in the season, another reason for the team’s success.

“We’ve been stringing our hits together well, so I think that’s a big thing right now,” Bauch said. “Before we were getting hits, but it wasn’t at the right time. It’s nice that we’ve finally found an offensive lineup that all works well together.”

The pitching has also improved. With the added run support, the pitchers are feeling less pressure, which is helping them pitch better.

“It’s a lot easier because now we’re confident that our bats are coming around,” Gay said. “We knew we had we’d just been in a slump for a while and, as a pitcher, it’s much easier to go out there knowing that even if they do get one or two runs, it’s not the end of the game.”

All parts of Illinois’ game will need to be working this weekend to keep the streak going against the Buckeyes, a team with which the Illini are tied in conference standings.

“We’re obviously right with them, neck-in-neck,” Sullivan said. “They’re a really offensively powerful team from top to bottom, and it’s the last series of Big Ten play so it’s going to be tough.”

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