Game 1 Boxscore (PDF) | Game 2 Boxscore (PDF)

MONROE, La. – Eastern Illinois softball earned a Saturday split on day two of Mardi Gras Classic play, as the Panthers fell to host Louisiana-Monroe, 7-1, before beating Grambling State in a 20-2, five-inning rout. EIU improves to 5-4 on the early-season.

For the day, junior Bailey O'Dell tallied a perfect 4-for-4 plate performance, including a double and home run. Senior Reynae Hutchinson followed by hitting .667 (4-for-6), which included a team-best four RBI off her own double and homer.

Senior Brooke Owens added her own three-run bomb and double, with junior Hannah Cole adding another double and 4-for-7 day at the plate.

EIU nailed 17 hits in the five-inning win over Grambling State, as the Panthers registered 14 runs in the final frame for the blow out. Eastern also posted an errorless game defensively, while the Tigers committed five miscues.

Five different players finished with two or more hits in the win, with Hutchinson earning four RBIs, while O'Dell, Owens and Westover all added three RBIs of their own. Both Cole and Hutchinson came around to touch home four times each.

Senior thrower Hanna Mennenga improved her season mark to 2-1 with the complete game win. She registered seven strikeouts, three walks, while fanning four hits and a pair of earned runs.

In the first game loss, the host Louisiana-Monroe squad delivered a grand slam in the bottom of the second to help the Warhawks avenge Friday's loss to the Panthers in early-tourney action.

Cole accounted for the lone RBI shot for EIU, as she delivered a hit to left in the top of the sixth to bring home Willert from second to account for the margin of victory. Janette Isaac earned a stolen base.

Owens and Hutchinson accounted for the other two hits for the Panthers, via a respective single and double as ULM out-hit the Panthers, 9-to-3, while both squads committed one error.

Senior pitcher Janele Robinson was tagged with the loss to drop to 1-2 on the season, as she finished with three strikeouts, two walks and allowed six earned runs off six hits. Classmate Stephanie Maday came in relief for four innings, adding four additional Ks, two bases-on-balls and just one earned run behind three hits.

Panthers will wrap up tourney action versus Houston Baptist at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning.

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