Rachel Houck Director of Operations | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Rachel Houck Director of Operations | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Illinois softball head coach Tyra Perry has released the schedule for the 2025 season. The Fighting Illini will play a total of 54 games, with 20 of those taking place at Eichelberger Field. The team is set to compete against eight programs that participated in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
The season kicks off in Orlando, Florida, where Illinois will face CSU Bakersfield, Georgia, and UCF Knights from February 7-9. The following weekend, they travel to Nashville for a tournament hosted by Tennessee State alongside Stony Brook, Mercer, and Quinnipiac.
NC State will host Illinois for a tournament from February 21-23 in Raleigh, North Carolina. There, the team will play against Northern Colorado, Central Michigan, and NC State Wolfpack. Their final non-conference tournament occurs at Arkansas from February 28-March 1 against Missouri State, Iowa, and Arkansas Razorbacks.
Illinois begins its home games on March 7 with a match against Saint Louis at Eichelberger Field. This is followed by games against Indiana State on March 11 and Illinois State on March 12.
Big Ten conference play starts with a series against Wisconsin from March 14-16 at home. The last time these teams met was during the Big Ten Softball Tournament in 2023 when Illinois defeated Wisconsin.
The team then travels to Missouri on March 18 and Oregon for a series from March 21-23. This marks only their third meeting with Oregon and their first as conference opponents.
On March 25, UNI visits before Washington arrives for two conference games on March 28-29. Western Illinois rounds out this homestand on April 1.
Subsequent league series include an away game at Northwestern from April 5-7 and hosting Michigan State from April 11-13. After playing Valparaiso on April 16 at home, Illinois heads to Purdue for three games from April 18-20.
Returning home briefly for matches against DePaul (April 22) and Northern Illinois (April 23), they then travel to Rutgers for Big Ten action from April 25-27.
Their final non-conference game is scheduled at home versus Eastern Illinois on April 30 before concluding the regular season with Ohio State from May 2-4.
This upcoming season marks the program's twenty-sixth year of competition and Coach Tyra Perry's twenty-third year coaching in her career.
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