Big Ten Tournament: No. 7 Illinois (34-20, 12-11 Big Ten) vs. Michigan State (27-27, 8-15 Big Ten)
When & Where	May 12-14 // Thursday: 1:30 p.m. CT // Nittany Lion Softball Park // University Park, Pa.
Game Coverage	Live Stats | TV: BTN | Live Video | Live Audio | Radio: WDWS 1400 | Tournament Central
Full Game Notes	Illinois | Michigan State
Statistics	Illinois | Michigan State
Series History	Illinois leads, 19-6 // Last: W, 10-0 (6); 4/28/2013 // Streak: Won 10
Social Media	@IlliniSB  | #Illini  | Facebook  | @IlliniSB  | YouTube

Champaign, Ill. - With the regular-season wrapped up last Sunday, the Illinois softball team turns its focus on to the Big Ten Conference Softball Tournament and will make a return trip to University Park, Pa., and the Nittany Lion Softball Park, where the three-day tournament will be held on May 12-14. The Illini, who earned the No. 7 seed, will face 10th-seeded Michigan State on Thursday (May 12) at 1:30 p.m. CT in the first round of the tournament. 

The Illini are the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament for the first time in program histroy and own a 8-13 record in the tournament. The Illini garnererd the fifth seed a season ago, but fell in the first round to No. 12 Purdue, 3-2. UI have played Michigan State twice in the tournament, dropping both contests, including the Orange and Blue's only appearance in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game, during the 2004 season.

The Illini finished the 2016 regular season with their fourth-straight Big Ten series victories with a pair of wins at Penn State last weekend. After a doubleheader split on Saturday, the Illini routed the Nittany Lions, 9-0, in six innings on Sunday with senior Allie Bauch going 3-for-4 with five RBI and three runs at the dish and junior pitcher Jade Vecvanags holding PSU to just three hits in the outing. 

Illini Notes

• The Illini finished the first regular season under head coach Tyra Perry with a 34-20 overall record and a 12-11 mark in the Big Ten Conference. The Illini's 34 wins equal the 2002 team for the fifth most in program history and is the best start ever by any first year Illinois softball or baseball head coach.
• The Illini's 34 wins this season also ranks as the third-most wins in the Big Ten behind Michigan (44) and Minnesota (38). 
• The Illini have won four-straight Big Ten series and have lost just three games since April 15, winning 11 of their last 14 contests.
• The Big Ten Conference announced its postseason honors on Wednesday with a quartet of Illini earning All-Big Ten accolades. Bauch and junior Nicole Evans were each named Second-Team All-Big Ten honors, sophomore Carly Thomas and Bauch garnered spots on the All-Defensive Team and sophomore Jill Nicklas was selected as the Illini's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Recipient. 
• For just the second time in program history, Illinois had a pair of representatives on the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District First-Team as Bauch and sophomore Annie Fleming each garnered a spot on the District Five First-Team. A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, Bauch is just the third Illini softball player to collect the accolade twice in her career, while it was the first CoSIDA Academic All-District honor for Fleming. 
• Junior Breanna Wonderly has pitched just under 80 percent of the team's innings in conference action with a league-leading 115.2 frames and 17 starts, which sits second the Big Ten. Wonderly's nine wins in B1G play ranks in a tie for third in the conference, while her 2.28 ERA in Big Ten action ranks seventh-best and her 37 strikeouts sits in a tie for 12th in the league.
• For the season, Wonderly has thrown for 186.2 innings, which ranks fourth-most in the conference, with her 28 starts coming in tied for fourth-most in the league, her team-leading 15 wins ranking in a tie for seventh in the Big Ten and her 2.96 ERA sitting 10th in the conference.
• With 19 triples on the season, the Illini lead the Big Ten and rank fifth in the NCAA with 0.35 three-baggers per game. Individually, Fleming leads the Illini, ranks second in the Big Ten and sits 14th in the NCAA with five on the season, while Bauch and Evans is right behind Fleming with three triples this season to rank in a tie for fifth in the conference.
• The Illini's 19 triples sets a program record for triples in a season, passing the previous record of 15 in 2005.
• The Illini rank third in the conference with 79 doubles on the season and rank 60th in the country with 1.46 two-baggers per game. Evans paces the Illini, ranks fourth in the league and is 61st in the NCAA with 16 two-baggers on the season.
• Evans has knocked a team-high 12 homers in 2016, upping her career total to 35, which ranks fourth in program history. She also owns a career slugging percentage of .641, which ranks as the highest slugging percentage in program history. 
• Nationally, the Illini also rank 49th in batting average (.311), 58th in slugging percentage (.470), 64th in scoring (5.43) and 68th in win-loss percentage (.630).
• The Illini pace the Big Ten and rank 39th in the nation with 86 stolen bases and a 1.59 stolen base per game average. Senior Kylie Johnson leads the Illini and ranks seventh in the Big Ten with 17 stolen bases on the year. 
• It was a busy night on the base paths for the Illini against Indiana State on May 4 as UI set a program record with eight stolen bases. Senior Danielle Trezzo led the way with three stolen bases, which equals the program record for stolen bases in a single contest. 
• UI also leads the conference with 682 total bases and 40 sacrifice bunts and ranks in the top four in hits (second, 451), runs (fourth, 293), batting average (fourth, .311) and sacrifice flies (t-fourth, 13).
• Defensively, the Illini have fielded 26 double plays in 2016 and rank second in the conference and 17th in the NCAA with 0.48 double plays turned per game. Individually, Gunther sits third in the league with 17 double plays fielded, while Bauch ranks in a tie for fourth with 14 and junior Ruby Rivera is tied for 10th with 11 on the season. 
• The Illini's 11-0 five-inning win over East Carolina on March 6 marked an historic occasion for the softball program, as it was the 500th victory in the history of the program.
• The Illini, who have posted 10 run-rule victories this season, are outscoring their opponents 293-204 and are averaging just under five and a half runs per game.  
• In the Illini's season-opening tournament in Miami, Fla., UI registered a 5-1 win over then-No. 10 Florida State on Feb. 13, with the victory over the Seminoles marking the first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 4 Michigan on April 25, 2014 at Eichelberger Field. It was also just the seventh win against a top-10 foe and just the fourth win against a top-10 team not named Michigan.  

Scouting the Spartans

MSU won its second straight series and third of its last four with two wins at Ohio State. The Spartans shut down the OSU offense in game one with a 6-0 shutout, fell in a heartbreaking walkoff on Saturday, and then rebounded with a 9-7 win in the rubber game on Sunday, rallying for five runs in the top of the seventh inning.

 The Spartans finished with a 8-15 record in the Big Ten standings to claim 10th place, and hold a 27-27 record overall, surpassing 2015's win total both overall and in the Big Ten. MSU enters the tournament with five wins in its last seven games.

MSU has three players hitting .367 or better in Celeste Wood, Sarah Gutknecht, and Lea Foerster. Pitcher Kristina Zalewski tossed her third and fourth consecutive complete games, the 15th and 16th of the season, as she pitched both wins for MSU on the road at (RV) Ohio State. On Friday, she had six strikeouts in a 6-0 shutout of the Buckeyes, and added four K's in Sunday's game, becoming just the fourth pitcher in school history to record 200 strikeouts in a season (she has 204 entering the Big Ten Tournament).

Next Up

The Illini will await their NCAA postseason fate and will find out on Sunday (May 15) night as the 2016 NCAA Division I Softball Championship bracket will be announced on ESPNU at 9 p.m. CT.