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Eastern Illinois (9-6) Softball Upcoming Schedule

February 29 – March 3, 2024 at ASU Black & Gold Tournament  
    (all played at Alabama State University)
Feb. 29 at Alabama State (8-7) – 2 pm … Live Stats
Feb. 29 at Alabama State – 4:30 pm … Live Stats
March 2 vs. Jacksonville State (5-11) – 1:30 pm … Live Stats
March 3 vs. Bryant (5-4) – 10 am … Live Stats 


ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois travels to Alabama State this weekend to participate in the ASU Black & Gold Tournament.  The event has already been altered due to forecast rain all day on Friday so the Panthers will open with a doubleheader on Thursday against host Alabama State.  The Panthers then play single games on both Saturday and Sunday against Jacksonville State and Bryant.   EIU is 9-6 on the season after going 3-2 last weekend at the WKU Hilltopper Classic.  The weekend included a pair of shutout wins over Detroit Mercy and Saint Louis.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Freshman pitcher McKenzie Oslanzi added a third straight Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week honor in week three as she posted a 3-0 record at the WKU Hilltopper Classic.  She pitched 15 innings with 15 strike outs allowing just one run and issuing just one walk. For the weekend she had an ERA of 0.47.   On the season Oslanzi has been stellar with a 6-0 record, 0.80 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 43.2 inning of work in the circle.  She has two complete game shutouts and a combined shutout this season.

Jadin Justman picked up hits in all five games of the WKU Hilltopper Classic hitting .455 with two doubles and three RBI as part of her weekend total.  Justman reached base successfully in the final three games of the San Diego Classic the previous weekend and has an active streak of eight straight games reaching base.  For the year Justman is hitting .344 which ranks fourth on the Panthers roster this season.
 
Rachel Kaufman got it done at the plate with power numbers at Western Kentucky.  The graduate student hit three home runs with one double for a weekend slugging percentage of 1.067.  She drove home eight runs including four of them on a grand slam. For the season Kaufman leads the Panthers with a .375 average including four doubles, four home runs and 15 RBI.  Kaufman now has 16 career home runs and needs three more to crack the Panthers career top ten. 
 
Briana Gonzalez also connected for a grand slam at the WKU Hilltopper Classic.  Gonzalez hit .429 for the weekend with a double and seven RBI.  Gonzalez is now hitting .351 for the year with 11 RBI which ranks second on the team.  One of those 11 runs driven in was a walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh to beat Long Island University at the San Diego Classic.
 
EIU was 9-of-10 in stolen bases last weekend at the WKU Hilltopper Classic with Kendall Grover and MaryBeth Dyson the weekend leaders with two stolen bases each.  On the season EIU is 20-of-26 on stolen base attempts.  Grover is the team leader with five steals in five attempts.  Dyson is second on the team going 3-for-3 this year in stolen base attempts.
 
Avary Makarewicz became the third different Panther to connect for a home run this season with her solo shot in the seventh inning against Detroit Mercy in the final game of the WKU Hilltopper Classic.  The catcher is hitting .345 for the season with two doubles, a triple and a home run.

STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games:  Rachel Kaufman (5), Marama Makea (4), Kendall Grover (4)
Multiple RBI Games:  Rachel Kaufman (4), Briana Gonzalez (2), Jadin Justman (2), Avary Makarewicz (2)
Active Hitting Streaks:  Jadin Justman (5), Briana Gonzalez (3), Marama Makea (2)
Active Reached Base Streak:  Jadin Justman (8), Briana Gonzalez (3), Marama Makea (3) 
 
SEASON LONG NOTES
Graduate student Rachel Kaufman was named the preseason Player to Watch for EIU in the Ohio Valley Conference this season as part of the league's preseason information release.  Kaufman was a second team All-OVC selection at Utility last season playing both the DH role while also starting in the circle.   At the plate she hit .323 with seven home runs and 26 RBI.   In the circle she had some of the best control ranking among the NCAA leaders in fewest number of walks issued allowing just 15 free passes in 106.2 innings in the circle.   Kaufman was 9-6 overall with a 2.17 ERA and 59 strikeouts.
 
Eastern Illinois was selected second in the OVC preseason poll. The Panthers finished behind defending regular season league champion Southeast Missouri in the preseason voting.  The Panthers were the OVC Tournament Champion last season winning three straight games in Oxford, Alabama to punch their first ticket to the NCAA Tournament.  Olivia Price was named the OVC Tournament MVP after three straight complete games in the OVC Tournament allowing just one run in 21 innings of work.
Rachel Kaufman was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week after the graduate student had hits in all five games to help power the Panthers to a 5-0 start to the season. Kaufman hit .500 (9-of-18) at the plate with two doubles and a home run.  She had multiple hits in three of the five games and extended her current hitting streak to six games dating back to last season.  She drove in five of EIU's 25 runs for the weekend drawing one walk to finish with a .526 on-base percentage.   Kaufman did not strike out in 19 plate appearances.
 
Freshman pitcher McKenzie Oslanzi was named the Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week in week one after helping the Panthers secure a 5-0 start to the season.  She appeared in three of the five games for the weekend factoring in the decision in each game she appeared.  She made her first collegiate start picking up a win over Green Bay with ten strikeouts in her debut. She would pick up a win in relief against Montana and then a save in relief in the victory over Providence.  For the weekend Oslanzi had an ERA of 1.14 with 16 strikeouts in 12.1 innings of work. 
 
Freshman pitcher McKenzie Oslanzi won her second straight OVC Pitcher of the Week honor as she pitched well at the San Diego Classic.  Oslanzi had a complete game shutout win over Long Island University.  She followed that up with a no-decision in the start against San Diego and pitched in relief against Southern Utah.   For the weekend she had 22 strikeouts in 16.1 innings of work.  She leads the OVC in innings pitched, wins and strikeouts while ranking third in the league in ERA.
 
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois will play three different opponents as they compete in their final in-season tournament this year.  EIU is scheduled to play Alabama State, Bryant and Jacksonville State this weekend.   The Panthers hold a 6-1 all-time series lead over Alabama State including a no-hitter tossed last year by Olivia Price. The Panthers have a 1-0 all-time series lead over Bryant with the schools having previously met in 2014.  EIU and JSU were former opponents in the Ohio Valley Conference.  JSU holds a 36-12 all-time lead in that series.

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois will open Ohio Valley Conference play next week with a three game weekend series at Southeast Missouri.   The following weekend EIU hosts UT Martin for its home opening series.

HEAD COACH: Tara Archibald is her fifth season as the head coach at Eastern Illinois.   Last season she led EIU to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance as the Panthers posted a 34-21 record winning the OVC Tournament.  Archibald has a career record of 104-86 with an OVC record of 42-37.  She won her 100th career game against Providence on Feb. 11, 2024.  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 Lasaira Daniels, Toby Ring and Macey McElravy.