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Eastern Illinois (6-8) Softball Upcoming Schedule

March 4-6 at Bellarmine Invite (Louisville, Ky.)
March 4 vs. Valparaiso (1-9) at 12:30 pm …  Live Stats  | Live Video
March 4 at Bellarmine (1-14) at 4 pm …  Live Stats  | Live Video
March 5 at Bellarmine at 10 am …  Live Stats  | Live Video
March 5 vs. Valparaiso at 12:30 pm …  Live Stats  | Live Video
March 6 vs. Valparaiso at TBA …  Live Stats  | Live Video
(Times are Central Time)
  
ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois heads to its fourth in-season tournament of the year as the Panthers will travel to Louisville, Ky., this weekend to play Valparaiso and Bellarmine in the Bellarmine Invite.  EIU went 1-3 last weekend at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn., as rain impacted the entire tournament schedule and field conditions.  EIU opened the tournament with a win over Memphis but lost two on Saturday and one on Sunday to stand at 6-8 on the season.   Valparaiso is 1-9 entering the weekend while Bellarmine is 1-14 heading into the weekend.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Jaylen Prichard extended her consecutive games streak of reaching based to 11 games over the weekend.  Her consecutive game hitting streak ended at seven games during Friday's win over Memphis.  She would rebound to collect hits in the final three games of the weekend tournament.  Prichard leads the Panthers with a .386 average, one of five Panthers currently hitting over .300 this season.  She has two doubles, one home run and eight RBI.  Her nine runs scored this season are second on the team and third in the OVC this season.
 
Briana Gonzalez also had her long hitting streak come to an end over the weekend though she was able to extend her consecutive games streak of reaching back to ten games during the weekend.  Gonzalez is fifth on the EIU roster with a .306 average.  She has two doubles, one home run and six RBI this season.
 
Kendall Grover had the hot bat in Chattanooga for the Panthers.  She hit a team best .417 during the four-games over the weekend going 5-of-12 with a double, a home run and six RBI.  Grover is second on the team with three multiple-hit games this season and tied for second on the team with multiple RBI games with two.  For the season she is second on the team with a .361 batting average.
 
EIU tacked on three home runs to its season total over the weekend in Chattanooga as Kendall Grover, Rachel Kaufman and Lindy Milkowski all went deep for the Panthers.  As a team EIU leads the OVC with 16 home runs.  Two years ago EIU set the school single season record for home runs with 56.  Last season the Panthers again had big power numbers hitting 48 home runs, good for the second best single season total in EIU history.  Milkowski leads the OVC in individual home runs with five.  Kaufman is second on the team with three.
 
Pitcher Alexa Rehmeier leads the Ohio Valley Conference with 29 strikeouts in 26.2 innings of work.  Rehmeier is 2-2 this season with one save in nine appearances in the circle.  She leads the Panthers in innings pitched, appearance and strikeouts.
 

STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games: Jaylen Prichard (6), Kendall Grover (3)
Multiple RBI Games: Lindy Milkowski (4), Jaylen Prichard (2), Rachel Kaufman (2), Kendall Grover (2)
Active Hitting Streaks:  Jaylen Prichard (3), Aryn Henke (3)
Active Reached Base Streak:  Jaylen Prichard (11), Briana Gonzalez (10), Rachel Kaufman (7), 
 
SEASON LONG NOTES
Olivia Price tossed just the eighth no-hitter in program history with her win over Alabama State on Feb. 17.  Price faced the minimum 21 batters with the lone ASU runner reaching on a walk and out on the next play.  The last no-hitter was thrown last season by current teammate Tieghan Morio during a 4-0 win over Alabama A&M.  EIU's other no-hitters have been tossed by Jessica Wireman, Coli Turley (2), Stephanie Maday (2) and Hanna Mennega. 
 
Olivia Price and Lindy Milkowski were named the Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week (Feb 20) following the Panthers 5-0 performance at the Mardi Gras Classic.  Price tossed a no-hitter and worked 10 innings in the circle with a 1.35 ERA.  She added 11 strikeouts.  Milkowski hit .462 during that tournament with four home runs and eight RBI.  She had 17 total plate appearances drawing three walks without being struck out.

 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois will face one previous opponent and one new opponent this weekend at the Bellarmine Invite.  EIU is 14-4 all-time against Valparaiso with the two schools meeting last year at the Rosemont Dome Tournament.  This will be the first meeting between EIU and Bellarmine. 

NEXT UP:  Eastern Illinois opens Ohio Valley Conference play next weekend as the Panthers travel to UT Martin on March 11-12.  That trip will lead into the Panthers spring break which features midweek games at Lipscomb before wrapping up the week with a weekend series at East Tennessee.

HEAD COACH: Tara Archibald is her fourth season as the head coach at Eastern Illinois.   In her first 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 during the 2020 season.   In 2021 she posted her second straight winning record as EIU finished at 25-19 overall, 16-14 in the OVC.  Last season EIU was 25-30 overall, 10-17.  The Panthers did qualify for the OVC Tournament marking their first appearance since the 2018 season.  Archibald has a career record of 67-67 with an OVC record of 26-31.  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 Huggins and Toby Ring.