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

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Eastern Illinois softball split a pair of one-run games to open the home Ohio Valley Conference slate, as the Panthers downed visiting Eastern Kentucky, 1-0, in the nightcap after previously dropping a tough opener, 2-1, in nine-innings.

Panthers move to 24-11 overall and 5-4 in league action, while the Colonels of EKU drop to 17-13 and 5-3, respectively.  EIU returns to home action afternoon, hosting Morehead State in a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

In what turned into a pair of classic pitching duels, seniors Stephanie Maday and Hanna Mennenga picked up a respective win and loss on the day, as the pair combined for 21 total Ks, with Mennenga retiring 11 batters in the first game loss, while Maday fanned 10 EKU players in the nightcap shutout.

EKU junior Leanna Pittsenbarger threw a gem of a game for the Colonels in the opening contest as she set a new EKU single-game mark with 18 strikeouts to continue to pace the entire league in Ks for the season.

In the nightcap, EIU got on board in the bottom of the third as senior Brooke Owens drilled an RBI double to left field to plate sophomore Haylee Beck from third.  Owens finished with a 2-for-3 plate performance in the win.

That would be all the offense EIU would need as Maday held the Colonels in check, allowing just two hits as the visitors were held to a super-low .091 batting mark.

Sophomore Jennette Isaac continued her hot play as she added respective hits in both games to extend her OVC-leading hitting streak to 15 games.  

In the first game heartbreaker, both Mennenga and Pittsenbarger pitched nearly inning-for-inning before junior Hannah Cole blasted a walk-up solo bomb over the left field fence to give EIU the one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh.

Unfortunately the visiting Colonels would counter with their own solo homer in the top of the fourth to knot the score, as the game eventually moved to extra innings.  EIU had several chances to possibly win in walk-off fashion as the Panthers stranded runners in both the eighth and ninth innings.

With an EIU runner on second and two out in the ninth, junior Bailey O'Dell drilled a shot to right centerfield, which normally would have easily tied the score, but a huge diving catch by the Colonel's rightfielder Nicole Heitz would help the East Division foe secure the hard-fought one-run road win.

For the day, Isaac, Owens and Hutchinson all went 2-for-7 at the plate, with senior Carly Willert joining Owens with a double.

Owens and Hutchinson tied Beck with a stolen base as well, while O'Dell had a fine game defensively with a team-best five assists in the infield.

Team-wise, out-paced EKU in hits (nine-to-seven), yet neither squad hit all that well considering the pitching battle, but EIU did finish by out-hitting EKU (.170-to-.135) in the doubleheader.

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