EIU/ARMY Boxscore (PDF)  |  EIU/UND Boxscore (PDF)

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Eastern Illinois softball ended Florida Rebel Spring Game action on a high note on Wednesday (March 13) afternoon as the Panthers defeated Army and North Dakota off respective 10-1 (5-inn.) and 7-0 victories.

EIU finishes the four-day trip with a 6-2 mark to improve to 10-8 on the season as the Panthers finished up the pre-Ohio Valley Conference portion of the schedule.

For the day, junior Carly Willert led EIU with a .667 batting mark behind a 4-for-6 day at the plate, which included a double and five total bases.

Senior Melise Brown delivered her first career grand slam in the rout of Army, as she finished with a team-best five RBIs on the day.

Sophomore Hannah Cole followed a 3-for-5 plate performance, with four RBI, including a pair off a home run against Army.

Cole tied junior Brooke Owens with six total bases while Owens also registered four RBI, thanks to a three-run blast over the fence.

The junior pitching duo of Hanna Mennenga and Stephanie Maday both picked up wins in the circle to improve their season marks to 6-3 and 4-3, respectively.

Against North Dakota, Mennenga came just one pitch shy of earning her second career no-hitter, and potential perfect game, in less than a week yet did tie her all-time strikeout tally with 14 Ks in the shutout win over the Sioux.  In fact she started the game on fire as she fanned the first seven ND batters she faced.

In the five-inning 10-1 rout of Army, EIU broke the game open in the second frame with six runs, as Brown drilled her grand slam before Cole blasted her own two-run bomb.

In the top of the third, the Knights scored a run off a Panther miscue but Eastern would add three more runs thanks to Owens' base-clearing shot over the fence in bottom half of the fourth inning.

Maday tallied three strikeouts off four-innings of work for the win, while classmate Janele Robinson came in for an inning of relief.

Against North Dakota, Eastern scored six straight runs between the third and fifth frames off seven hits and a ND miscue.  Brown joined classmate Ally Seplak and Owens with basehit RBIs during this span, while Cole and Hutchinson both earned sac fly RBI in the contest as well.

Mennenga ended up striking out 14 of the 22 batters she faced in the shutout, allowing just one late hit and throwing zero walks.

Panthers will now travel to Clarksville, Tenn., as Eastern will open the Ohio Valley Conference portion of the schedule with a three-game series at fellow west division rival Austin Peay this coming Saturday and Sunday.

QUOTING COACH SCHUETTE
"I'm pleased with our team and our trip out here this week," said Schuette.  "We were able to practice things in the morning and then do them in the afternoon's games.  I'm really pleased with our team's focus and ability to make adjustments and corrections, both individually as a group.

"We learned a lot about each other, our abilities and are now a better team.  Whether it be pitching, defense, hitting or just being a team, we have a good thing going right now and want to keep it rolling.

"We also had a great fan following here and it was awesome to see so much blue in the stands and at the hotel supporting us!"

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