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CARBONDALE, Ill. – Eastern Illinois softball had two clutch innings on Sunday afternoon, one in each game, as the Panthers beat both Northern Illinois and host Southern Illinois at the SIU Saluki Invite.

EIU scored two runs in the top of the seventh to beat NIU, 5-4, in the opener.  In the second game EIU scored nine runs during the fifth inning to beat SIU 13-9.

EIU improved to 10-12 on the season with the two wins.

EASTERN ILLINOIS  5,  NORTHERN ILLINOIS 4
Amber Cieplinski delivered a two-run single with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to lift Eastern Illinois to a 5-4 win over Northern Illinois.

Cieplinski's shot scored pinch runner Mikayla Creasbaum and Maddie Swart.  Creasbaum pinch ran for Rachel Kaufman who reached on a hit by pitch while Swart reached on an infield single. 

Alexa Rehmeier would close out the seventh for the Panthers in the circle to lock up the win and pick up her first collegiate save.  Olivia Price pitched six innings allowing one earned run for the win improving to 2-3.

Megan Burton was the lone Panther with multiple hits in the game going 2-for-4.  Bianca Barone was the lone NIU player with multiple hits going 2-for-3 as NIU had only six hits in the game.

The Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second scoring one run on an RBI single by Amberly Rodriguez and the other on an EIU error, one of four the Panthers committed in game one.

After EIU cut that lead in half in the fifth on an RBI double by Lindy Milkowski, NIU extended its lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth with two runs.

EIU had two runs in the sixth with Morgan Lewis driving in one run with an RBI single while Hannah Cravens added a sacrifice fly setting the table for Cieplinski's heroics in the seventh.

Emily Dato suffered the loss in relief for NIU falling to 3-2.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 13, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 9
Eastern Illinois blew open a 2-2 game in the top of the fifth inning as the Panthers scored nine runs to pull away for a 13-9 win over Southern Illinois.

Megan Burton and Hannah Cravens combined to drive in nine of the 13 EIU runs.  Burton was 3-for-4 with four RBI while Cravens was 2-for-3 with five RBI.

In the big EIU inning Cravens started the rally with a two-run single to right.  Amber Cieplinski had a two-run single to center before Burton had the big shot of the inning clearing the bases with a grand slam.

Cravens added a two-run home run in the third and drove in her fifth RBI with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. 

SIU closed the final margin with four runs in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the bottom of the seventh.  Elisabeth Huckleberry had a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh going 3-for-3 with four RBI in the game. 

Tieghan Morio pitched four innings in the circle to improve to 2-3 on the season.  Sarah Harness suffered the loss for SIU falling to 4-5 on the year.