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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois softball came from behind twice on Wednesday against Saint Louis with the second time being the charm as Aniya Holt smashed a walk-off double off the right field fence to hand Eastern Illinois a 4-3 win.
 
EIU trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh opening the inning with back-to-back hits by Jaylen Prichard and Lindy Milkowski that placed runners at second and third with no outs.   Prichard had a single up the middle to open the frame followed by a double to right by Milkowski.  Kendall Grover tied the game with a single to right that scored Prichard but Milkowski was thrown out at the plate by Billikens right fielder Ashley Marietta for the second out of the inning.   During the play at the plate, Grover was able to advance to third.  She would come home to score the winning run as the next batter, Holt, smacked a double off the fence.
 
Grover and Holt were both 2-for-4 on the day for the Panthers with each driving home two runs.   Prichard led EIU with a 3-for-3 day reaching base all four times with a walk in the first.
 
Saint Louis took an early lead in the fourth on a two-run home run by Abby Mallo.  EIU countered in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single up the middle by Grover and RBI single by Holt to left center.
 
The Billikens took one more lead in the sixth when Chloe Rhine drew a walk to open the inning.  She moved to second on a wild pitch and came around to score on a double down the left field line by Gabbie Kowalik.
 
The starting pitchers for both teams did not factor into the decision as Oliva Price (9-3) pitched the final three innings for EIU to collect the win.  Kaili Hanner (0-6) pitched the final 2.2 innings for SLU and suffered the loss.
 
EIU's two pitchers – Rachel Kaufman and Price – allowed just four Saint Louis hits on the day.
 
EIU improved to 21-15 overall.  Saint Louis falls to 15-22.