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Two-Game Series Stats (PDF)

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois softball earned their seventh straight Ohio Valley Conference win as the Panthers swept visiting Tennessee Tech, 7-2 and 3-1, to improve to 22-17 overall and 12-6 in league play.  With the sweep, Eastern earned the rain-shortened two-game conference series over TTU.

Newcomer Bailey O'Dell had an excellent day going 5-for-8 (.625 avg.) at the plate off three doubles, while nabbing an RBI, and touching home three times.

Junior Abby Wood and sophomore Ashleigh Westover followed with .400 average as each had two hits, while Westover led all players with a pair of RBI, as Wood came around to score twice herself.

The pitching tandem of sophomores Stephanie Maday and Hanna Mennenga were key to the two wins as each were tabbed with a victory.  Maday earned the complete first game victory to move to 12-9 overall, which securing her second career save in the nightcap.  Mennenga improved to 10-5 on the year with the second game win off nearly six innings of work.

Maday finished the day with eight strikeouts, including three consecutive Ks in the closing moments of the nightcap en route to her second save of the season.

Five total players earned multiple hits on the day, with junior Melise Brown and sophomore designated hitter Kaylie Pruett each nailing a pair.  Meanwhile, seven different had at least one RBI in the sweep. 

Brown also went a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases to up her team-high mark to 13 on the year.

In the first game, the Panthers erupted for five-runs in the second inning to put the game immediately out of reach of the visiting Golden Eagles (17-24/11-11).

EIU enjoyed a one-out bases loaded situation before a bloop shot over the head of the third baseman by Pruett brought home Wood.  Hayley Pieper would then scamper home from third off the fielder's choice RBI by O'Dell, as Pieper beat-out the throw to home by the TTU shortstop, which the Tech catcher couldn't wrangle in to allow WEstover to also score via the error.

Now leading 3-0, EIU added two more runs, the first via another fielder's choice RBI off the bat of Brown, scoring Pruett.  A sac fly RBI by Carly Willert, bringing home O'Dell, would account for the last run of the wild inning.

The Panthers would plate another run in both the third and fourth frames, as Westover's RBI single scored Wood and Hutchinson reached base via another TTU miscue to plate O'Dell, respectively.

TTU would make things interesting by finally getting on the board in the top of the seventh with a pair of two-out scores.

In the nightcap contest, the Golden Eagles enjoyed an early 1-0 lead off a second-inning RBI single, but the Panthers would answer with two runs of their own in the bottom of the third.

The second sac fly RBI of the day for EIU came off the bat of Hutchinson, as her deeply hit ball to centerfield would help bring home O'Dell from third.  Wood would then follow with an RBI shot to centerfield to plate Brown.

EIU added a security run in the fifth inning as Westover blasted an RBI double to right center to score Ally Seplak from second base.

On an extremely windy day, the Panther defense helped to back up the EIU pitchers as Westover earned a key lineup at third base, while the outfielding crew of Melise Brown, Hayley Pieper and Ally Seplak all did an oustanding job as well.

For the day, EIU out-paced TTU in several key stat categories, including hits (13 to eight), runs (10 to three), doubles (five to two), RBI (eight to three), walks (seven to five), and strikeouts (11 to nine).  The Golden Eagles did strand just 12 baserunners as compared to 15 for the Panthers.

The Panthers, who are currently all alone in third place in the league standings, will continue their homestand this week, hosting league rival Southeast Missouri in a Wednesday (April 18) mid-weekend single-game.  EIU already earned a sweep of the Redhawks in Cape Girardeau, so the third game of the series will be for bragging rights for the Panthers.  First pitch is set for 5 p.m. at Williams Field.

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