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Eastern Illinois Softball Upcoming Schedule
March 12 vs. Belmont – 4 pm … Live Stats |  Internet Radio Broadcast – The Odyssey
March 13 vs. Belmont – 1 pm (G1) … Live Stats |  Internet Radio Broadcast – The Odyssey
March 13 vs. Belmont – 3:30 pm (G2) … Live Stats |  Internet Radio Broadcast – The Odyssey

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois hosts Belmont this weekend in a three game series as the Panthers play their home opener at Williams Field.  EIU enters at 10-4 overall, 3-0 in the OVC after EIU swept its conference opening weekend on the road at Morehead State. This will be the first home regular season game for EIU softball since April 28, 2019 when EIU beat Tennessee State in a doubleheader.  The Panthers played all 21 games of the 2020 season on the road prior to COVID-19 shuttering the season.  Belmont enters at 5-7 overall, 1-2 in the OVC after opening the season against Jacksonville State.  

BURTON NAMED OVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Megan Burton was named the OVC Player of the Week after the Panthers weekend sweep against Morehead State.  She was the second straight EIU winner of the award after Hannah Cravens won the previous week.  Burton hit .500 for the weekend series with a slugging percentage of 1.200.  Burton had one double, two home runs and eight RBI for the weekend.  She also drew three walks and had a stolen base.  On the season Burton leads the OVC with 22 RBI which ranks 17th in the NCAA.  She is hitting .304 for the year with five home runs and four doubles.    The season Burton has five multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games with a high of five against Jackson State.

PANTHERS HITTING THE LONG BALL:  Eastern Illinois added six more home runs to its season total during the weekend series at Morehead State.  For the year EIU now has 22 home runs as the Panthers rank 17th in the NCAA in home runs.  Hannah Cravens, Haley Mitchell and Megan Burton all are tied for the team lead with five home runs while four other players have hit at least one home run this year.

LEWIS AMONG OVC LEADERS: Morgan Lewis is among the OVC leaders as the Panthers enter the second week of conference action.  Lewis has a .429 batting average as she leads the OVC with 21 hits.  Lewis has added nine stolen bases in ten attempts.  Lewis is currently on a nine-game hit streak, the longest active streak among Panthers players.  Lewis has five multi-hit games this season and is hitting .454 during her nine game hitting streak.

PRICE PITCHING WELL IN FRESHMAN SEASON: Freshman Olivia Price has pitched well for the Panthers during her first season in the circle.  On Sunday at Morehead State, she picked up her second win of the season with a 5-inning shutout win against the Eagles as EIU won 8-0.   Price allowed just two hits with four strikeouts.   On the season she has pitched 19 innings with a 2-1 record and 1.84 ERA.  She has ten strikeouts and has only walked one batter this season.  Price's other win this year was in a complete game start at Southern University. 

SOLID HITTING AND PITCHING: Eastern Illinois has had both solid hitting and pitching during its 10-4 start to the season.  The Panthers are currently the only team in the OVC to rank in the top three in the league in both hitting and pitching.  EIU is second in the OVC with a team batting average of .314.   Three players – Katie Nicholson (.500), Abby Taylor (.438) and Morgan Lewis (.429) are all hitting over .400 for the year with each posting 15 or more plate appearances.  In the circle, EIU ranks third in team ERA with the Panthers staff holding a 2.84 ERA.  Jade Montgomery leads the team with four wins and 24 strikeouts as the number one starter.  Olivia Price (2-1) and Sydney Cammon (3-0) both have added multiple wins for the Panthers staff. 

DAVIS & MITCHELL CLIMBING CAREER CHARTS: Seniors Mia Davis and Haley Mitchell both returned this year for one additional year in a Panthers uniform.   Both already active on several career EIU hitting lists, the pair continue to climb those hitting charts during the 2021 season.   Davis has moved up to fifth on both the career doubles and career RBI lists with 37 and 105 respectively.   She has also climbed up to number six on the career home runs list with 20.  Mitchell entered the season already the career leader in RBI at EIU and has since increased her total to 142 career RBI.   Earlier this season she became the EIU career leader in home runs and now has 31 including three hit last weekend against Morehead State. 
 
SERIES SWEEP: Three game series in softball have been rare in recent years for the Eastern Illinois softball program.  The last time EIU played a three-game weekend series against an opponent was during the 2016 season when the OVC played a divisional format with double-headers against teams from one division and three-game series against teams from another.  The last time EIU swept a three-game softball series was April 16-17, 2016 when the Panthers won three straight against Austin Peay. 
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois and Belmont will meet for the 13th time when the two schools face each other on Friday night to open a three game series between the schools.  EIU holds a 9-3 all-time series lead.  Two of the Bruins three wins in the series came the last time the two schools met on April 26, 2019 as Belmont swept a doubleheader from EIU at Williams Field.  EIU had swept the season doubleheader in 2018 at Belmont and the two schools split their doubleheader in Charleston in March of 2017. 
 
NEXT UP:  After hosting Belmont this weekend for the Panthers home opener, EIU will host Austin Peay next weekend on Friday and Saturday (March 19-20).  This season the OVC will have teams play a three-game weekend series against all conference opponents with the exception of each school's travel partner.  Those two schools will play four games against each other with a doubleheader at each school's home venue.  In OVC play, EIU will host Belmont, Austin Peay, UT Martin, Murray State, Tennessee State and SIUE.

HEAD COACH: Tara Archibald is her second season as the head coach at Eastern Illinois.   Last season Archibald led EIU to an 11-10 record to open the season prior to COVID-10 shortening the season for all college teams.   The Panthers did not get into Ohio Valley Conference play, so Archibald will coach her first conference games this season.  Archibald is a 2004 graduate of Southern Illinois where she played softball for the Salukis helping the team make the 2003 NCAA Tournament.  She hails from a softball family with her father, Gerry Glasco, the head coach at Louisiana.  She has coaching stops at both the high school and collegiate ranks.   She is assisted by Rachel Houck and Aeshia Miles.