MARTIN, Tenn. – Eastern Illinois softball earned the regular-season series over Ohio Valley Conference rival UT Martin on Sunday (April 12), as the Panthers hit past the Skyhawks in a 4-2 rubber match win.

The win ups the EIU record to 14-21 and 9-8 in league play.  The Skyhawks, meanwhile, drop to 21-18 and 9-7, respectively.

Panthers will return to action this coming mid-week with a 3 p.m. single-game at regional foe Butler on Wednesday (April 15), before hosting Tennessee State and Belmont in consecutive weekend twinbills.

After earning her first collegiate no-hitter in a Panther uniform in yesterday's 3-0 win over the Skyhawks, freshman pitcher Jessica Wireman followed with another complete game victory today to move to 7-10 overall.

She limited UTM to just two hits and zero runs through the first six innings of work, before the host squad finally threatened a bit in bottom of the seventh with a pair of runs off three hits, including a solo homer.  She fanned three Skyhawk batters and tallied five walks, while also stranding eight UTM base runners on the day.

Offensively, the Panthers were led by senior Hannah Cole's 3-for-4 day at the plate, which included a double, and a solo home run.

Junior April Markowski added her own bomb off a 2-for-4 day, with classmate Jennette Isaac also going 2-for-4.

Freshman Andrea Roberts got things going for EIU in the top of second inning, nailing an RBI single to left center to score Cole.  Cole then crushed her solo shot over the left center field wall in the fourth frame.

Markowski followed with consecutive RBI shots for the ultimate game winners for Eastern, as she first tallied a single to right field to plate Wireman in the fifth, and then nailed her own solo home run, again over the left field fence, in the top of the seventh inning.

The host squad would finally get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a one-out home run and RBI single.

For the three-game series, Cole led all Panthers with an impressive 8-for-11 (.727) batting average, and included a double, a home run, 12 total bases, a stolen base, and zero strikeouts.  Haylee Beck, Markowski and O'Dell each registered three RBIs over the weekend.

Wireman's two victories included eight strikeouts off 17-innings of work, a 1.65 ERA, and limiting the UTM bats to a low .145 average.

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