Moline's Musings

Catching Up On Softball

Posted by: Brian Moline

Thursday, April 2, 2009 3:35 PM

One of my blog beats here on IlliniHQ is Terri Sullivan's Illinois softball team.  But with wrestling extending into March (and beyond with Mark Johnson's retirement), softball has been getting the short end of the stick.  That's a shame, because it looks like Sullivan's squad could end up being better than last year's edition, despite the loss of powerful bats Angelena Mexicano and Shanna Diller from the 2008 squad.

They did drop a pair of games last night in Iowa City, but the Hawkeyes were an NCAA Tournament team a season ago.  Despite the losses, Illinois is still above .500 in the Big Ten at 3-2, and sport an 18-10 overall record.  In case you haven't been following them this year, the Illini already have wins over ranked opponents Houston (which included the greatest comeback in Illini history), Texas A&M and Southern Illinois. 

Three different Illini have also won Big Ten Player of the Week awards, including second baseman Danielle Zymkowicz, who has won it twice.  The other Illini to be honored are left fielder Hollie Pinchback and catcher Lana Armstrong.  Freshman Monica Perry has led the pitching staff so far with a 13-8 record and 3.90 ERA.

Next up for Illinois is a trip to Madison this weekend for a pair of games with the Wisconsin Badgers.  The Badgers have had their struggles so far this year, sporting a 12-22 overall record, and 1-3 in the conference.  It should be a good opportunity for the Illini to pick up a couple of conference road wins.

I'll be talking with Terri Sullivan tomorrow.  I'll share it with you here then.  Thanks for reading.

bmoline@wdws.com

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