Chambana Sun

The Fighting Illini softball team split their Big Ten doubleheader against Wisconsin on Saturday. Illinois won the first game 9-6 but lost the series finale 8-6. This result leaves Illinois with a 13-11 overall record and 1-2 in league play, while Wisconsin concluded the series with a 17-9 mark and a 2-1 conference record.

In the first game, Lauren Wiles started as pitcher and secured her sixth win of the season. Ella Cushing, Adisyn Caryl, Stevie Meade, and Yazzy Avila each hit home runs for Illinois. The Badgers initially led after scoring in the opening frame, but Illinois rallied in the third inning with Avila's solo homer and continued to extend their lead with additional runs from Donahue, Berkmeyer, Cushing, Caryl, and Meade. Despite Wisconsin's late-game efforts to score, Illinois held on for a 9-6 victory.

During this game, "Illinois wore orange jerseys," which improved their record to "4-3 while donning those." The team recorded four home runs and 16 hits—the most by the Illini squad this season for a single game—and six players had multiple hits. They went "6-for-12 (.500) with runners in scoring position" and achieved three-hit games from three different hitters. Historically, "Illinois is now 34-23 all-time against the Badgers."

In the second game of the day, Karley Yergler was the starting pitcher for Illinois, but Megan Nuechterlein took the loss. Stevie Meade added another home run during this match. The Badgers took an early lead at 4-0 by the second inning. Gabrielle Debevec's single reduced that gap before Paige Berkmeyer's sacrifice fly further narrowed it to one run. Meade tied it up with a two-run homer in the fifth inning.

However, Wisconsin regained control with three more runs in the sixth inning leading to an eventual final score of 8-6 despite Illinois adding another run in the seventh inning.

For this match as well, "Illinois wore orange jerseys," which changed their record to "4-4 while donning those." After this result against Wisconsin—now holding a historical standing of "34-24 all-time"—the Orange and Blue have experienced losses during their first conference series of each season over three consecutive years.

Next up for Illinois is an away game against Missouri scheduled for Tuesday at 3 p.m., marking another opportunity to improve upon their current performance metrics as they maintain a home field advantage ratio of "4-2 at Eichelberger Field" so far this season.