Eastern Illinois softball split its two games at the Western Kentucky Hilltopper Classic for the second straight day. EIU beat Saint Louis in the opener before falling to host WKU in the second game.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 8, SAINT LOUIS 0 (5 innings)
On Friday it was Saint Louis that exploded for early offense to post a five inning win over Eastern Illinois. Saturday morning the Panthers returned the favor with an 8-0 win over the Billikens in five innings.
Briana Gonzalez had the big shot of a six-run first inning as she hit EIU's second grand slam of the weekend. The Panthers built the early offense with a single by
Rachel Kaufman and then walks by
Jadin Justman and
McKenzie Oslanzi. Gonzalez then cleared the bases with her first home run of the season.
EIU tacked on two more runs in the first on a two-run double by
Avary Makarewicz.
The offense was all starting pitcher
McKenzie Oslanzi would need as she tossed her second complete game shutout this season to improve to 5-0 in the circle. Oslanzi had five strikeouts and allowed just on Saint Louis hit by Kelsey Etling in the top of the fifth.
EIU added single runs in the second and fourth innings for the run-rule win, both RBI coming off the bat of Gonzalez who was 3-for-3 in the game with six RBI. She had an RBI double in the second and run scoring single in the fourth.
Lily Strand (1-2) took the loss for Saint Louis who fell to 4-4 on the season.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 12, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1 (5 innings)
Western Kentucky had two big innings in the second and third frames to pull away from Eastern Illinois during a 12-1 win over the Panthers.
EIU had four hits in the loss off the bats of
Jadin Justman,
Briana Gonzalez,
Marama Makea and
Kendall Grover.
Grover's hit in the top of the fifth was an RBI double scoring
Mia Mazzola.
After scoring an unearned run in the first inning, WKU scored four in the second. Brylee Hage started the scoring with a two-run double. Taylor Sanders added a two-run homer later in the second.
The Hilltoppers scored seven in the third, the big shot of the inning Sanders second home run of the day, a three-run shot.
EIU is now 8-6 on the season.
Olivia Price (2-5) took the loss in the circle for EIU.
WKU improved to 9-3-1. Rylan Smith (4-1) picked up the win for the Hilltoppers.
