Boxscore (PDF)
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Eastern Illinois softball downed Austin Peay, 6-0, on Sunday (March 17) to earn the Ohio Valley Conference weekend sweep of the Lady Govs.
Panthers improve to 13-8 overall and a perfect 3-0 OVC mark as EIU enjoys a season-best six-game win streak. Austin Peay, meanwhile, drops to 9-10 overall and 0-3 in league action.
"It's hard to beat a team three times," said EIU head coach Kim Schuette. "I'm proud of our approach to these games and our toughness throughout the weekend."
Juniors
Brooke Owens and
Carly Willert both finished with 2-for-3 days at the plate, as both delivered solo home runs in the rout.
Sophomore Hanna Cole added an RBI double, while junior
Ashleigh Westover and senior
Abby Wood both delivered respective RBI shots to account for the Panther scoring.
Junior
Hanna Mennenga continued her fine season as she upped her season win mark to 8-3 in the circle, as she fanned nine Lady Govs via strikes, while allowing just a pair of walks and APSU hits.
The Panther defense backed up Mennenga nicely as they Willert and junior
Morgan Biel led all players with four put-outs, while Eastern committed zero errors.
"Today we had a lot of contributors helped us secure the team win," added Schuette. "Biel had two very good catches in left field, Willert led us at the plate getting on base, scoring runs and hitting one out of the park. We had two nice pinch-hit shots later in the game leading to some insurance runs.
"Lastly, Mennenga threw another nice game," Schuette continued," as she kept their hitters in check and stepped up at the end of the game in some tough conditions.
"I'm proud of our team and we want to keep things going."
The Panthers have now won eight consecutive games over APSU to improve Eastern's lead in the all-time series history to 42-12.
EIU will prepare for a mid-week home opener versus I-70 rival Indiana State this coming Wednesday (March 20), with first pitch set for 4 p.m. at Williams Field.
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
