Eastern Illinois softball head coach
Tara Archibald has added transfer outfielder
Sophie Cerveny to the Panthers roster for this upcoming season.
Cerveny played the last two seasons at Omaha helping lead the Mavericks to the Summit League Championship this past season and appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Omaha won 33 games and played in the Baton Rouge (LSU) Regional. Cerveny hit .270 this past season making 34 starts including starting all three games of the Summit League Tournament and all three games of the NCAA Tournament as the designated player.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sophie to Panther Softball this fall! Sophie has been on very successful teams at every level of the game. She is a proven winner and brings a wealth of championship experience that will be very valuable to our program as we look to build upon this season's historic success, and continue to set new standards for EIU Softball," said Archibald.
Cerveny is from Hastings, Neb., and prepped a Hastings HS where she was a second team Super State selection as a senior after helping her school finish runner-up in the state championships. She ended her high school career as the school leader in both hits in a season and career hits. As a junior Hastings HS was sixth in the state with Cerveny earning first team All-State honors. Early in her high school career she was a second team All-Area selection as a sophomore and honorable mention as a freshman.
She played travel softball with the successful Nebraska Gold program helping them win the 2021 PGF National Championship.
Cerveny opened her freshman season at Omaha starting 30 games. She hit .274 with nine runs scored. She had six games with multiple hits including a 3-for-3 game with a double and two runs scored against Kansas City.
EIU won the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance last season playing in the Evanston (Northwestern) Regional. Cerveny is the third player added to the program this summer joining junior college All-American pitcher
Karlie McKenzie (Kaskaskia College) and All-Region performer
Jadin Justman (Green Bay).
