BATON ROUGE, La. — Illinois softball began its three-day stay at the Tiger Classic on Friday. The Illini narrowly fell to Lamar, 4-3, in 11 innings, before dropping game two, 9-0 to Nevada in five innings.
Game One
Ava Moore started strong in her first game back after a season-ending injury in 2025, launching a triple to center field in her first at-bat. Junior Eileen Donahue quickly brought her home with an RBI single, putting the Illini on the board first.
Lamar answered in the third inning with a pair of runs, led by an RBI double from Cala Wilson.
Consecutive doubles from Keirys Click and Adisyn Caryl put Illinois back on even ground at the top of the fifth, and neither side scored again through the next two frames, sending the Illini's first game of the season to extra innings.
A solo home run to left field from Caryl gave the Orange and Blue a one-run advantage to start the ninth, but Roxy Thompson responded with a double of her own for the Lady Cardinals, extending the game.
The 11th inning finally finished the bout, as Thompson crossed the plate to score the final run for Lamar, with Illinois falling, 4-3.
Notes
- The Illini logged 11 hits as a team, posting ten or more hits in a game for the first time since May 2, 2025, when it defeated No. 21 Ohio State, 9-5
- Pitcher Karley Yergler excelled in the circle for the Illini, pitching 10.1 innings, her first outing with more than seven innings of work since April 18, 2025, at Purdue, when she went 11.2 frames in a narrow 1-0 loss.
- Caryl notched three hits, her first multi-hit game of the season and ninth of her career with three or more hits
- Among Caryl's hits was a solo home run, also ninth of her career and first of the season for the team
- Caryl had a career-high six at-bats in the contest, the most of any batter on either team
- Two hits from Moore mark the fourth multi-hit game of her career, including her third career triple in her first at-bat of the season
- Skylar Brennan added her first multi-hit game in an Illinois uniform, earning two against Lamar
Game Two
Nevada was quickly on the board with an RBI double and a three-run homer, ahead 4-0 after the first inning.
Brennan, Delaney Mosley and Click each logged a base hit, but the Wolfpack tacked on three more home runs en route to a 9-0 victory in five innings.
Next Up
The Fighting Illini return to action tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 7, taking on NC State at 10 a.m. and Lamar again at 3 p.m. Both games can be streamed on ESPN+.
