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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois softball picked up a pair of home-opening wins over Ohio Valley Conference foe Murray State on Sunday (March 29) afternoon, via scores of 3-1 and 7-6 at Williams Field.
 
The Panthers improve to 10-15 overall and 5-4 in league action as EIU earns their fifth straight OVC series win over the Racers, dating back to 2011.  Murray State fell to 17-12 and 4-5

For the day, freshman outfielder Andrea Roberts hit .600 (3-for-5) to lead all Panthers, as junior Haylee Beck and senior Bailey O'Dell followed with respective .500 (3-for-6) and .429 (3-for-7) marks and combined for five RBIs.  O'Dell's two doubles and six assists also led her squad.

Newcomer Michelle Rogers pitched a pair of gems, allowing just one earned run for an 0.78 ERA and holding the Racer bats to a .242 average.  Classmate Jessica Wireman earned her second save of the season in the first game victory and struck out six total batters on the day.

In the first game pitching dual, EIU scored first, plating a pair of runs in the third frame as Roberts first delivered an RBI single to left field to plate junior outfielder Jennette Isaac, while junior second baseman Katie Watson later earned an RBI bases-loaded walk to bring home O'Dell.

The Racers would pull to within one thanks to their own RBI shot to center field in the top of the fifth, yet later in the frame junior Haylee Beck added her own RBI single up the gut of the Murray State defense to score Roberts for the final margin of victory.

Isaac and senior Hannah Cole both scampered for a stolen base in the victory, while O'Dell drilled a double and sophomore Ashlynne Paul and Watson each nabbed respective sac bunts.

The nightcap Panther win was full of drama as the visiting Racer squad jumped out to an early 6-0 lead through the first three innings off eight hits and a trio of EIU miscues.  But that's when the game was halted due to a 45-minute rain delay.

Once the game resumed, the Panthers changed the momentum, as Rogers eventually came in to both starter Wireman and Tori Johnson, holding the Racers to just two additional hits the rest of the way.

In the bottom of the fifth, the second double of the day by O'Dell would score both junior April Markowski and freshman pinchrunner Taylor Monahan, as Cole followed with her own two-RBI single to center to bring home both O'Dell and Isaac.  That would help cut the Racer lead to 6-4.

Then in the bottom of the sixth, the Panthers had a bases loaded with zero outs, as Beck took advantage of the situation and earned an RBI single up the middle to plate Paul from third.  Markowski then nabbed her own RBI as she was hit by pitch to tie the score at six-all.

O'Dell then helped the Panthers earn the comeback victory as she delivered a sac fly RBI to right field to bring home Beck for the eventual game winner.

Team-wise, EIU out-hit the Racers, .360-to-.291 in the twinbill, in addition to holding the advantage in hits (18-to-16), runs (10-to-7), RBIs (10-to-5), and strikeouts (8-to-5).  Both squads tallied 20 total bases, two stolen bases, and three errors.

The final contest in the three-game OVC series between the Panthers and Racers will take place tomorrow (March 30) at 2 p.m.

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