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

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The senior duo of Hanna Mennenga and Stephanie Maday pitched consecutive 1-0 shutouts, as Eastern Illinois softball earned a crucial sweep of Ohio Valley Conference West Division rival UT Martin Saturday (April 12) afternoon at Williams Field.

Mennenga and Maday both delivered 10 strikeout performances as the pair have now combined for 12 shutouts on the season, holding the Skyhawks (22-18-1/9-5) to just three hits, as Eastern improves to 29-11 on the season and jump ahead of UTM in the league standings with a 9-4 mark.

Mennenga allowed just a pair of hits and limited UTM to a .095 bat in the first game win, while Maday held the Skyhawks to a low .043 off one single and zero walks in the nightcap win.

Hitting-wise, junior Hannah Cole went 3-for-6 at the plate, as she delivered both RBIs on the day.  The first came via a single through the left side to plate senior Brooke Owens, who had reached base off a one-out triple.  Her second RBI came via her own triple in the nightcap, as she once again scored Owens, this time from first base.

Owens would finish 2-for-5 overall, while senior Ashleigh Westover snapped her recent hitting slump with a nearly perfect 2-for-3 day at the plate.

Sophomore Jennette Isaac added to her OVC-best hitting streak with a first game single, but unfortunately she'd fail to nab a hit in the nightcap, as she end her tally to 19 straight games.  She did tally a stolen base in the first game victory to currently tie senior Reynae Hutchinson with ten base thefts on the year.

Team-wise, Eastern dominated the Skyhawks in hitting (.209-to-.068), runs (two-to-zero), hits (nine-to-three), triples (two-to-none), total bases (13-to-four), slug % (13-to-four), and put-outs (42-to-36), while also owning the UTM pitching staff in strikeouts thrown (20-to-two).  The visitors did hold the advantage over EIU in errors (one-to-two), doubles (one-to-zero), and stolen bases (two-to-one).

With the sweep, the Panthers extend their all-time advantage over the Skyhawks in the all-time series to 32-to-26 and have kept UTM winless at Williams Field since 2007.

The two divisional rivals will take to the field once more, with tomorrow's single-game set to start at 1 p.m.

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