Softball

For the second year in row, Illinois State and Southern Illinois faced off in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, and unfortunately for the Redbirds (24-30), the result was the same both years as the top-seeded Salukis (33-19) picked up an 8-3 win on Friday at Ron Buel Field to advance to the championship game on Saturday.

In Thursday's quarterfinal game, #4 seeded Illinois State jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two innings of play against #5 seeded Missouri State and looked to be in control of the game. However, the Bears chipped away at the Redbirds lead cutting it to one after six innings, but Paige McLeod came on in relief and shut down the Bears (20-33) as the Redbirds (24-39) held on for the win to advance to the MVC Softball Championship semifinals on Friday at Ron Buel Field.

Illinois State received a first-round by in the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Softball Championship by finishing fourth in the regular season standings and had to wait to find out who its opponent would be in the quarterfinals on Thursday. By virtue of their win over UIC, the No. 5 seeded Missouri State Bears (20-32, 16-11 MVC) will take on the No. 4 seeded Redbirds (23-29, 16-11 MVC) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Ron Buel Field.

The Missouri Valley Conference announced on Wednesday that four Illinois State softball student-athletes have been selected to All-MVC teams for their performances in conference play during the 2025 season.