BATON ROUGE, La. — The Fighting Illini fell in two games on Saturday at the Tiger Classic, 9-4 to NC State, and 5-2 to Lamar.
Game One
Illinois got on base quickly, with Ava Moore working a walk and Adisyn Caryl following behind with a base hit. A groundout from Skylar Brennan later scored Moore and an RBI single from Ella Cushing brought Caryl home, earning the Orange and Blue the early advantage.
After NC State plated a single run in each of the first two frames to even the game, freshman Abby Sabalaskey held the Pack scoreless for the next two, also earning her first career strikeout.
An RBI double from Morgen Talley in the fifth reopened the scoring for the Wolfpack, and they notched one more in the inning to take a two-run lead.
Ellie Haggard came up with a clutch double of her own to score Cushing, and Gabrielle Debevec brought home pinch runner Stang to knot the game at four in the top of the sixth.
A five-run sixth inning from NC State proved to be the difference, and they walked away with the win, 9-4.
Game Two
The Illinois defense worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first, turning a double play to hold the Lady Cardinals scoreless. Delaney Mosley then launched a solo blast past the right field wall in the bottom half of the inning to put the Illini in front, 1-0.
Lamar quickly responded with two solo home runs of its own to retake the lead in the third frame, later adding another pair of runs in the top of the fifth.
Consecutive doubles from Caryl and Haggard scored another run for the Illini, but Lamar tacked on one more in the final inning and took the game, 5-2.
Day Two Notes
- Sabalaskey made her collegiate debut against NC State and earned her first career strikeout
- Amanda Smith made her debut for the Orange and Blue against NC State, pitching 0.2 innings and adding her first strikeout at Illinois
- Brennan has earned at least one hit in each of her first four games as an Illini, including two multi-hit games against Lamar (2/6/26) and NC State
- Through four games, Brennan owns a team-best .600 batting average
- Mosley's home run is the second for the team this season and the second of her career
- Haggard earned her second and third career doubles on the day, one in each game, making her way into the starting lineup for the first time this season against Lamar
- Haggard's doubles are also her first career hits in the month of February
- Caryl had the first successful stolen base attempt of the season for the Illini against NC State
Next Up
Illinois concludes its opening weekend against No. 16 LSU on Sunday, Feb. 8, at 12:30 p.m. at Tiger Park. The game can be streamed on SEC Network+.
