Box Score
Game #14 Box:  PDF
Weekend Series Stats:  PDF

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- Eastern Illinois softball dropped a 5-0 weekend Ohio Valley Conference series finale at league favorite Jacksonville State on Sunday afternoon, with the loss moving the Panthers to 5-9 overall.

Freshman Hannah Cole and senior Ashley Anderton led all Panthers with a 1-for-2 day batting-wise, while sophomores Morgan Biel and Carly Willert also added a single and double on the day, respectively.

Sophomore pitcher Stephanie Maday was tagged for the loss, falling to 4-4 overall, off a little over four innings of work, as she earned just one strikeout and six walks.

JSU (7-14/3-0) plated a pair in the third and then added three more runs in the fifth to earn the series sweep of Eastern, marking the first OVC sweep for the Panthers since dropping three straight at UT Martin back in 2010.

EIU ended up stranding seven base runners, to eight for the Gamecocks.

Panthers will continue spring break action this coming week, playing six games over four days.  First up with be a pair of games at Alabama A&M, as EIU will take on the home Bulldog squad before facing Savannah State in a neutral-site game on A&M's home field on Tuesday (March 12).

Then on Wednesday (March 13) and Thursday (March 14), Eastern will travel to Middle Tennessee State and future OVC opponent Belmont, respectively, for consecutive doubleheaders.  Belmont is set to join the league next season to give the OVC an even 12 teams.

Lastly, before returning to Charleston, EIU will then head to conference rival Morehead State for a three-game weekend series next weekend on March 17-18.

… for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID