CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois softball travels to South Carolina this weekend to partake in the three-day, four-team Charleston Southern Tournament, as the Panthers are set to face the host Buccaneers, as well as Colgate and Appalachian State.
Having now won five of their last six games, EIU sports a 9-5 overall mark on the season.
EIU opens the tourney with an early 8 a.m. Saturday (Feb. 28) matchup with Appalachian, followed by a noon contest versus the host squad. Then on Saturday (March 1), the Panthers once again play in an 8 a.m. game versus Colgate.
Depending on how Eastern does in those three games will determine the Panthers' tourney seeding for the rest of the weekend. At noon, the #1-Seed will play the #4-Seed, followed by the #2/#3 contest at 2 p.m. Sunday (March 2) action will include respective consolation and championship action starting at noon.
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28
8 am ... Appalachian State vs. Eastern Illinois
10 am ... Appalachian State vs. Colgate
Noon ... Eastern Illinois at Charleston Southern
2 pm ... Colgate at Charleston Southern
SATURDAY, MARCH 1
8 am ... Colgate vs. Eastern Illinois
10 am ... Appalachian State at Charleston Southern
Noon ... #1-Seed vs. #4-Seed
2 pm ... #2-Seed vs. #3-Seed
SUNDAY, MARCH 2
Noon ... Consolation Game
2 pm … Championship Game
... Opponents & times (central) subject to change
... Free live stats available via links above.
AROUND THE HORN WITH EIU
• Panthers finished with a 3-1 mark at last weekend's Jackson State Tourney, as EIU downed the host Tiger squad twice and upset Kansas, while falling to Southeastern Louisiana.
• Not even halfway through the early-season non-conference slate and the Panthers are already on pace to top several team stat categories from last year. The current 19 stolen base mark is already more than half of the entire 2013 total, while the .317 batting average bests last year's .277 tally. EIU also owns 20 doubles and 10 home runs in just the first three weekends of play, which is on pace to completely smash last year's respective tallies.
• Senior Brooke Owens and junior Hannah Cole lead the Panthers in hitting and also rank in the OVC Top 10 in several statistical categories, including ranking No. 2 and No. 3 in total hits with 19 and 18 shots, respectively.
• The senior pitching duo of Stephanie Maday and Hanna Mennenga also rank in various league Top 10 marks, as Maday ties for second with four total wins on the early-season.
• Team-wise, the Panthers rank fourth in the conference standings for both overall team hitting (.289) and ERA (3.60).
• Eastern currently sits atop the OVC West Division standings with an over 9-5 mark (.643 percentage), while the preseason division favorite SIUE Cougars sit in last place at 3-11. On the east side of the standings, perennial power Jacksonville State owns an 11-5 record to lead that division.
QUICK LOOK AT THE PANTHERS
Probably EIU starters ... tentative and subject to change
1 - Jennette Isaac (LF) ... So ... .351 BA ... 8 R ... 13 H ... 5 RBI ... 4-5 SB
2 - Bailey O'Dell (SS) ... Jr ... .325 BA ... 4 R .. 13 H ... 4 RBI ... 1-2 SB
3 - Brooke Owens (DH) ... Sr ... .426 BA ... 12 R ... 20 H ... 9 RBI ... 3 HR
4 - Hannah Cole (C) ... Jr ... .400 BA ... 9 R ... 20 H ... 13 RBI ... 3-5 SB
5 - Reynae Hutchinson (1B) ... Sr ... .366 BA ... 10 R ... 15 H ... 8 RBI ... 3-4 SB
6 - April Markowski (RF) ... So ... .293 BA ... 7 R ... 12 H ... 9 RBI ... 2-2 SB
7 - Ashleigh Westover (3B) ... Sr ... .263 BA ... 6 R ... 10 H ... 9 RBI ... 1-2 SB
8 - Hannah Rachor (2B) ... Fr ... .200 BA ... 2 R ... 3 H ... 2 RBI
9 - Haylee Beck (CF) ... So ... .250 BA ... 9 R ... 8 H ... 2-2 SB
Pitching Staff ...
Stephanie Maday ... Sr ... 1.98 ERA ... 4-2 ... 42.1 IP ... 12 ER ... 18 BB ... 29 SO
Hanna Mennenga ... Sr ... 2.44 ERA ... 4-1 ... 37.1 IP ... 13 ER ... 15 BB ... 33 SO
Janele Robinson ... Sr ... 9.07 ERA ... 1-2 ... 14.2 IP ... 19 ER ... 8 BB ... 16 SO
PANTHERS UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP
Entering her 14th season as a head coach, including nine at a NCAA DI program, Angie Nicholson arrives to Eastern after coaching seven seasons at perennial Horizon League power Cleveland State.
She currently sports a 356-269-1 all-time record (237-187-1 in DI), having previously led her Viking squads to two regular-season league titles and an appearance at the NCAA Regional thanks to a conference tourney championship.
As a two-time Horizon League 'Coach of the Year' honoree herself, Nicholson has mentored three conference Players of the Year and a trio of Pitchers of the Year. In her final season at CSU last spring, she coached both the Horizon League Player and Newcomer of the Year.
QUOTIONG COACH NICHOLSON
"We are looking forward to playing again this weekend," said Nicholson. "We are hoping to keep seeing some improvements and consistency from our pitchers, along with the continued success we have displayed at the plate from our hitters.
"This past weekend we are able to see our pitching, our defense and our offense come together," she added, "which was a beautiful thing. We now need to have all three of those components keep coming together. I am hoping we will be able to see it for all of the games this weekend.
"There should be a good mix of talent levels competition-wise, this weekend, so hopefully we can keep working on all aspects of our game and continue to grow as a team," Nicholson said.
WEEKEND WEATHER FORECAST
With more snow being forecast in the Charleston, Ill., area this weekend, a quick look at the weather situation down in Charleston, S.C. calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 58 on Friday. There's a 30% chance of morning showers on Saturday but temps should remain nice in the mid-60s. Sunday, meanwhile, should reach the upper 60s with only a slight chance of precipitation.
SCOUTING THE WEEKEND COMPETITION
The Panthers own just a 1-1 overall mark versus the weekend competition, as EIU will face Colgate for the first time on the softball field, while enjoying a 1-0 all-time lead over the host Buccaneers, yet haven't met since the 2004 season. Eastern dropped the only meeting with Appalachian State, as the Panthers were blanked on the road three seasons ago.
When the Panthers face Colgate early Friday, it will actually mark the season-opener for the Raiders. Colgate returns 13 letterwinners and eight starters from last year's 16-32 unit that finished in fourth place in the 2013 Patriot League standings off a 9-11 mark. Head coach Melissa Finley enters her second season as skipper of the Raider program.
Tourney host Charleston Southern enters the weekend at an even 7-7-1 on the year. The Buccaneers have actually lost seven of their last eight games, yet still enjoy a 6-4-1 home record. Earlier this year CSU dropped two of three against fellow OVC foe Jacksonville State, as the Bucs return six starters and nine letterwinners from last year's squad that went just 15-40 overall and 7-17 in the Big South to finish in 9th place under fifth year coach Shane Winkler.
Appalachian State sits at 3-9 on the year, as the Mountaineers have also dropped three of their last five games. ASU, who returns 15 letterwinners and nine starters from last year's impressive 31-22 squad, already earned a 5-0 win over fellow OVC rival Murray State this season. The defending Southern Conference champs are led on the field by fourth year head coach Shae Wesley.
UP NEXT FOR THE PANTHERS
Eastern finishes up the squad's non-conference tourney slate next weekend, as the Panthers return to South Carolina to compete in the two-day Coastal Carolina Chanticller Challenge. EIU is scheduled to re-play Appalachian State, while also facing Bryant in a single game and Furman twice.
Following that weekend tourney, Eastern will continue the southern road swing with a pair of early-week road double-headers at Coastal Carolina and East Carolina.
... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID
