BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Illinois softball (6-12, 0-0 Big Ten) earned its first shutout victory over IU Indy on Saturday morning, 10-0, in six innings, before falling to Western Kentucky in game two, 2-1.
GAME ONE
Skylar Brennan notched a base hit in the first inning, and she came around to score from first base on a double from Adisyn Caryl. The Fighting Illini notched a second run in the second frame, with an RBI single from Alaina Miller.
Three different Illini tallied solo home runs to add insurance, Eileen Donahue, Ady Kiddy, and Ellie Haggard, in the third, fourth, and fifth innings, respectively.
The Orange and Blue broke the game open in the sixth frame, with hits from Delaney Mosley and Kiddy, and Micaela Booth and Keirys Click reaching on walks. Caryl put the nail in the coffin with a hit to center field, driving home 3 RBI and sealing the Illinois victory, 10-0.
NOTES
- Abby Sabalaskey secured the complete-game shutout, the first shutout of her career and first for Illinois as a team this season.
- Sabalaskey has now earned 5 wins and logged 28 strikeouts in 43.0 innings pitched, all staff-bests
- Delaney Mosley tallied her first career triple against the Jaguars
- Mosley went 2-for-3 at the plate, her second multi-hit game of 2026
- Eileen Donahue added her first home run of the season, and 12th of her career
- Adisyn Caryl extended her hitting streak to nine consecutive games, before it was finally snapped against Western Kentucky in game two.
- Caryl went 2-for-4 at the plate, her sixth multi-hit game of the season
- Through 18 games, she leads the team with a .396 batting average and 21 hits
- Ady Kiddy tallied her first career home run, and second career multi-hit outing
- Her three hits are a single-game career high
- Skylar Brennan went 2-for-4 at the plate, her fifth multi-hit game this season
- Ellie Haggard notched her sixth home run of the season
- Haggard's .725 slugging percentage leads Illinois
- As a team, the Fighting Illini recorded ten or more hits for the sixth time this year
GAME TWO
In a low scoring pitcher's duel, Abby Sabalaskey threw her second complete game of the day, conceding just two runs, and adding three strikeouts.
The Hilltoppers struck first in the bottom of the second frame, with Maci Masters starting the inning with a base hit. From there Anna Mauck and Katie Murphy were walked, and Morgan Sharpe scored Masters with an RBI single.
Illinois knotted the game in the top of the fourth, as Brennan singled and Caryl walked to quickly put two runners on base. A ground out from Haggard allowed the runners to tag up, and Delaney Mosley scored pinch runner Brooke Stang with a sacrifice fly.
Western Kentucky brought home the winning run in the bottom of the fourth, with Murphy notching a base hit and making it around to score after another base hit from Sharpe and a pair of flyouts.
NEXT UP
Illinois returns to WKU Softball Field for one final outing at the Hilltopper Spring Fling on Sunday, March 1, facing off against Ball State at 10 a.m. CT.
