Austin Peay Softball Info  |  OVC Softball Info

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Having won six of their last eight games, Eastern Illinois softball is set to open the 2013 Ohio Valley Conference slate at fellow west division rival Austin Peay this weekend.  The three-game series begins with a noon Saturday (March 16) twinbill, followed by a Sunday (March 17) single-game, also set for a noon start.

The Panthers enter the weekend at 10-8 overall as EIU finished recent Florida Rebel Spring action in Kissimmee, Fla., with a 6-2 mark.

The Lady Govs of APSU, meanwhile, sport a 9-7 record after dropping a pair of home games to Lipscomb, but not before sweeping two games against Missouri Valley Conference power Southern Illinois at their own Cheryl Holt Field.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, MARCH 16 ...
   Noon ... Eastern Illinois (10-8/0-0) at Austin Peay (9-7/0-0) ... Live Stats
   2 p.m. (approx.) ... Eastern Illinois at Austin Peay ... Live Stats
SUNDAY, MARCH 17 ...
   Noon ... Eastern Illinois at Austin Peay ... Live Stats

PANTHER NOTES
• Sophomore Hannah Cole paces all Panthers with a .412 batting average, behind 21 hits, 10 runs, 15 RBI, seven extra-base shots (including a team-high three homers), 34 total bases and a .667 slug %.

• Senior Melise Brown follows with a .288 mark with 17 hits, 13 runs, a team-best 9 extra-base hits (which includes four triples), and ties Cole with 34 total bases.  She's also a force once on base with a 6-for-9 mark in thefts to lead the squad.

• Junior Brooke Owens ties Cole with three bombs and four doubles, while ranking second in RBI with 13.

• Junior Hanna Mennenga currently sports a low 1.38 ERA and is 6-3 overall in the circle behind 104 strikeouts off 61-innings of work.  She has held the opposition to a low .150 batting mark and has pitched a pair of shutouts and assisted on another.

• Classmate Stephanie Maday ties Mennenga with three complete games while following closely in individual ERA at 1.73, while owning a 4-3 record with 50 Ks behind 52.2 innings in the circle.

SCOUTING THE LADY GOVS OF APSU
Austin Peay enters the weekend at 9-7 overall as five players are hitting over .300 thus far this season, led by Laurel Burroughs' .431 tally.  Burroughs has 22 hits, 12 runs, 12 extra-base shots (including seven triples), 14 RBI, 41 total bases, and an impressive .804 slug %.

Pitcher Lauren de Castro not only leads her squad with a 5-3 mark in the circle, but also owns the second best batting mark of .388 behind 19 hits, 11 runs, nine extra-base hits (including four triples), 11 RBI, and 36 total bases.  She owns a 2.33 ERA behind 51-innings of work, as she's fanned 30 batters.

Fifteen of Jessica Ryan's 17 hits have led to an RBI as she paces the Lady Govs in that stat category, as well as owning a team-best three homers.

Team-wise, the Govs trail the opposition in several stat categories, including batting average (.309-to-.341), runs (80-to-87), hits (131-to-151), RBIs (71-to-75), sac bunts (four-to-16), stolen bases (five-to-19), team ERA (4.62-to-3.92), and strikeouts thrown (58-to-93).  APSU does lead in triples (eight-to-five), home runs (11-to-four) and total bases (208-to-204).

EIU/APSU SERIES HISTORY
Panthers currently own a sizeable 39-12 series advantage over the Lady Govs, as EIU has won the last five meetings.  Eastern leads APSU, 16-10, when played down in Clarksville, while the Panthers are 19-2 at home and a perfect 2-0 in neutral territory.

So far this season, EIU and APSU have both played nationally ranked Louisville on the road, as the Panthers fell by a 5-0 score, while the Lady Govs were defeated in a five-inning, 12-0 rout to the Cardinals.

PANTHERS GO 6-2 AT FLORIDA REBEL GAMES
EIU upped their overall mark to 10-8 with a 6-2 Rebel Games tally, as the Panthers downed Lehigh twice (4-3 [8] & 8-2), Creighton (5-0), Saint Peter's (5-0), Army (10-1 [5]), and North Dakota (7-0), but dropped consecutive one-run contests to Robert Morris (1-0) and Fairleigh Dickinson (3-2).

The stat of the week was the Panther pitching as Stephanie Maday went a perfect 3-0 in the circle behind a low 0.85 ERA, she earned 31 strikeouts, six walks and allowed only four earned runs behind 24.2 innings of work in one complete game.

Hanna Mennenga, meanwhile, added her name to the Panther record books with her first career EIU no-hitter as she tallied 12 Ks and allowed just one walk in the 5-0 shutout of Creighton last weekend.

Mennenga followed that superb game by coming one pitch shy of earning first perfect game in a Panther uniform as she tied her career-high K tally with 14 strikeouts, zero walks and allowed a late hit as Eastern blanked North Dakota in the Rebel Games finale.  She opened the game on fire by fanning the first seven Fighting Sioux batters she faced.

EIU also used the long ball at the four-day event as the Panthers drilled seven bombs, with Hannah Cole leading with three, while Melise Brown delivered her first career grand slam in the rout of Army.  Brown tied Brooke Owens with two homers last week.

Four different Panthers actually hit over .300 down in Florida, led by Cole's .458 clip, while Brown, Reynae Hutchinson and Ally Seplak followed at .385, .316 and .313, respectively.

Eastern also finished with nice base running as the Panthers led the opposition in stolen bases via a 10-to-three advantage.  EIU also led for batting average (.268-to-.120), runs (41-to-10), hits (57-to-23), doubles (14-to-two), and RBI (36-to-nine).

SCHUETTE IN HER EIGHTH SEASON AT EIU
Head coach Kim Schuette is currently in her eighth season as Panther skipper.  The 2011 OVC 'Coach of the Year' owns a 206-185-1 all-time EIU mark (2006-present), while sporting a 230-213-1 all-time head coaching record which also includes a 2005 season at DII Quincy.

EASTERN SQUAD & PLAYERS RANKED IN THE OVC TOP 10
Through March 14, the Panthers own the top pitching unit in the league behind a league-best 1.89 team ERA.  EIU also ranked fourth in fielding (.968) and 11th in batting (.242).

Individually, Mennenga and Maday, naturally own two of the best ERAs in the OVC with respective No. 1 and No. 3 ranks of 1.38 and 1.73.  Mennenga's 104 total strikeouts currently ranks third highest in the league.

Cole owns the fourth best OVC batting mark behind a .412 average, as Brown ties for the top triple tally at four on the year.

PANTHERS PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN OVC WEST DIVISION
The 2013 edition of EIU softball has been projected to finish second in the West Division of the Ohio Valley Conference, as voted on by the league head coaches and SIDs and announced by OVC office this past January.

The Panthers earned six first-place votes and 111 total points in the preseason ballot to sit just behind defending OVC champ UT Martin.  Out of the 12 total teams, EIU has been selected as the third best squad this coming season.

Austin Peay, meanwhile, was expected to finish in sixth (last) place in the OVC west division.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Next week, the Panthers will finally enjoy a home contest at the friendly confines of Williams Field, as EIU will host I-70 rival Indiana State in a single game next Wednesday (March 20) afternoon.  First pitch is set for 4 p.m.

Following the home opener, EIU will once again hit the road for OVC play, traveling to OVC east division foes Eastern Kentucky (March 23) and Morehead State (March 24) in a pair of weekend twinbills.

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