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Eastern Illinois (31-19, 16-6 OVC) Softball Upcoming Schedule

BRACKET | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

May 11-13 at Oxford, Ala.
Game 5 – May 11 vs. TBA – 10 am …  Live Stats  | Watch ESPN+

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois will travel to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with the Panthers opening play on Thursday morning as the No. 2 seed in this year's event.  EIU will face the winner of game three of the tournament which will feature Southern Indiana (No. 3 seed) against the winner of Tennessee State (No. 6 seed) and Lindenwood (No. 7 seed).  The opening two games of the tournament are single elimination followed by the double elimination tournament beginning on Wednesday afternoon with games 3 and 4.  EIU has won two regular season OVC Championships (2011 & 2013) and finished as the OVC Tournament runner-up three times in program history. 

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Freshman Kendall Grover led the Panthers in batting average for both the regular season and during Ohio Valley Conference play as she hit .364 during all 50 games with a .403 average during OVC action.   Grover ended the regular season on a 10-game hit streak.  She proved to be one of the toughest outs in OVC action as one of only five players to not strike out in OVC play and one of only two with no strike outs in 40 or more at-bats [Grover (62 at-bat OVC / 0 strike outs) & Abigail Rickerman from SEMO (40 at-bat OVC / 0 strike outs).  Grover ended the season with 14 doubles which ranked fourth in the OVC and is ninth on the EIU single season list.   She led EIU with 12 stolen bases which ranked fourth in the OVC and her 108 assists at third base rank second in the OVC this season defensively.
 
Rachell Kaufman continues to be a two-way threat for the Panthers in both the offensive line-up and in the circle.   Kaufman had five hits in the final weekend series against Southeast Missouri as she finished the year hitting .336.  Kaufman had nine multi-hit games for the season including a 4-for-4 day against the Redhawks which was the only four-hit game of the season for the Panthers.  Kaufman had six doubles and seven home runs driving in 26.  In the circle she was second on the team with a 2.20 ERA lowering that mark in conference play to 1.66.  For the season Kaufman was one of the top pitchers in the nation in terms of not issuing walks as her 15 total walks for the season (1.01 per 7 innings) ranked 19th in the NCAA.
 
Lindy Milkowski finished the regular season as the OVC leader in both home runs and RBI finishing with 14 home runs and 46 RBI.  Last season as a first-team All-OVC selection Milkowski was second in the OVC in RBI during the regular season with 46 as that total ranks second on the EIU single season list.  She now needs two more RBI to crack the EIU career top ten for RBI.   Her 14 home runs this season rank ninth on the EIU single season list while her 29 career home runs place her third all-time at EIU.   Last season during her first year at EIU, Milkowski tied the NCAA record with two grand slams in a game against Valparaiso.  She has one grand slam this season at Bellarmine in a game she drove in seven runs.
 
Eastern Illinois is once hitting for power as the Panthers have 39 home runs this year, a total that ranks second in the OVC.  The 39 home runs are the fourth most in a single season in school history.  EIU set the school record for home runs with 56 and hit 48 home runs last season as three of the top four home run seasons in school history have come under head coach Tara Archibald.  EIU has three players with grand slams in that home run total this year with Lindy Milkowski (at Bellarmine), Rachel Kaufman (vs. Memphis) and Aniya Holt (vs. Morehead State).
 
Eastern Illinois played extra innings on Saturday in game one against Southeast Missouri marking the fifth time this season EIU has had a game go extra innings.  The Panthers are 4-1 in those contests.  Amber Cieplinski had a walk-off bases loaded single against SEMO to provide the game winner.  EIU has had two games go to nine innings this season with three ending in eight innings.
 
Eastern Illinois has posted 31 wins this season which ranks as the seventh most for the program in its NCAA Division I history. The school record for wins in a season during the NCAA Division I era is 40 during the 2011 season when EIU won the first of two regular season OVC championships.  The last 30-win season for the Panthers prior to this year was in 2018. 
 
Eastern Illinois has three of the top seven hitters in the OVC in terms of drawing walks as the Panthers have drawn 167 free passes this season, the top total in the OVC and second most in school history.  Lindy Milkowski is the OVC leader with 28 walks drawn this year followed by Aryn Henke in second with 27.  Rachel Kaufman is seventh in the OVC with 23 walks.   In addition EIU has had a batter reach by hit-by-pitch 32 times this season.  Sophomore shortstop Briana Gonzalez is the OVC leader in that category setting the school record with 17 hit-by-pitch bases this season, a total that ranks ninth in the NCAA.
 
Eastern Illinois has had three players put together long streaks of reaching base in consecutive games.  Lindy Milkowski has the longest current active streak for EIU at 22 games.   Rachel Kaufman has the longest for the season at 25 games which came to an end against Morehead State.  Jaylen Prichard has put together two long streaks with a 21-game streak ending in March and a recent 18-game streak coming to an end at Lindenwood.   Prichard had the Panthers longest hitting streak of the season at 18 games which also ended at Lindenwood.
 
Olivia Price has been the Panthers leader most of the season as the junior pitcher is the Panthers current leader in starts (18), wins (13), innings pitched (107), strike outs (76) and saves (2).   She enters the OVC Tournament with a league best ERA of 1.96 which includes eight complete games, six of them in conference action.   As a pitching staff, EIU has posted a team ERA of 3.07 for the season with that dropping to 2.28 during OVC games with both Price and Rachel Kaufman holding ERA's under 1.70 for the year. 


STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games: Jaylen Prichard (17), Kendall Grover (14), Lindy Milkowski (9), Rachel Kaufman (9)
Multiple RBI Games: Lindy Milkowski (11), Rachel Kaufman (8), Jaylen Prichard (6), Kendall Grover (5)
Active Hitting Streaks:  Kendall Grover (10), 
Active Reached Base Streak: Lindy Milkowski (22),  Kendall Grover (10) 
 
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.
 
Lindy Milkowski was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season after her weekend performance at the Bellarmine Tournament (March 6).  In four games played, Milkowski hit .500 with three doubles, three home runs and ten RBI.   She had a slugging percentage of 1.250 for the weekend.  EIU closed out the tournament with a Monday morning run-rule win over Valparaiso where Milkowski added one hit to finish the weekend hitting .474. 
 
Olivia Price added her second OVC Pitcher of the Week honor on April 17 as she played a part in three of the Panthers four wins during the week. She was 2-0 in decisions adding one extended relief save.  She picked up a win in relief against Saint Louis and then a win in a start at Tennessee Tech.  She closed out the Panthers series sweep at TTU with a save in relief. 
 
Olivia Price was named the Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week for the second consecutive week and third time this season after her performance against Purdue Fort Wayne and Morehead State.  Price was 3-0 in the circle with complete game wins over Purdue Fort Wayne and Morehead State, twice.  Price allowed one unearned run against Purdue Fort Wayne but tossed shutouts against Morehead State in both games. 
 
Senior Morgan Lewis was named the EIU Player to Watch for the upcoming OVC season in the preseason poll.  Lewis has battled injuries during parts of the previous two seasons but was an All-OVC Newcomer selection in 2021 leading the OVC in stolen bases.  This season Lewis has appeared in 17 games hitting .241 going 7-for-8 in stolen base attempts.   EIU does return first team All-OVC performer Lindy Milkowski and All-OVC Newcomer team member Alexa Rehmeier from last year's team. 

 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois enters the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the field as the Panthers will not play until Thursday against a still to-be-determined opponent.  EIU has the opportunity to face Southern Indiana, Tennessee State or Lindenwood in its opening game.  USI enters as the No. 3 seed and will play the winner of the TSU / Lindenwood opening round game.  Of the three potential opponents, EIU has only faced Tennessee State previously in the OVC Tournament beating the Tigers in 2001.  Listed below are EIU's records against this year's OVC Tournament field in OVC Tournament games, last OVC Tournament meeting and series history this season.
 
Tennessee State - 1-0 (last in 2001) ... EIU won series 3-0
Lindenwood - 0-0 (first meeting) ... Lindenwood won series 3-0
Southern Indiana - 0-0 (first meeting) ... USI won series 2-1
UT Martin – 8-1 (last in 2018) ... EIU won series 3-0
SIUE – 1-3 (last in 2018) ... EIU won series 2-0
Morehead State - 4-2 (last in 2016) ... EIU won series 3-0
Southeast Missouri – 4-8 (last in 2015) ... Teams split series 1-1.

NEXT UP:  Eastern Illinois travels to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Oxford, Ala., on May 10-13.  The Panthers will enter as the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament, their highest seed since the 2016 season. 

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 92-78 with an OVC record of 42-37.  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.