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Eastern Illinois (25-12, 11-4 OVC) Softball Upcoming Schedule

April 14-15 at Southern Indiana (16-14, 10-5 OVC)
Sunday, April 14 - 2 pm … Live Stats   |  ESPN+
Monday, April 15 – 12 pm … Live Stats   |  ESPN+
Monday, April 15 – 2:30 pm … Live Stats   |  ESPN+


ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois travels to Southern Indiana for a key Ohio Valley Conference series that pits the top two teams in the conference race at the midpoint of the season.  EIU is 25-12 overall, 11-4 in the OVC remaining in first place in the OVC following a series win over Tennessee State last weekend.  USI enters just one game behind in second place in the conference at 16-14 overall, 10-5 in the OVC.  The series has been shifted to a Sunday/Monday series to accommodate a USI team matter on Saturday.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Freshman pitcher McKenzie Oslanzi has had a breakout season in the circle for the Panthers as she leads the OVC in wins with 16 after picking up a pair of victories in relief last week against Tennessee State.  The 16 wins rank ninth in the NCAA this season and are one win shy of cracking the EIU single season top ten total for wins.  She is currently third in the OVC in strike outs with 119 while ranking 13th in the NCAA in walks allowed per seven innings and 8th in the NCAA in strike out to walk ratio (119 Ks / 16 BB).  In addition Oslanzi has hit for herself and in the DP role most of the season with a .286 average, seven doubles and 16 RBI.
 
Jadin Justman added to her OVC leading sacrifice fly total during the Panthers weekend series with Tennessee State delivering her school record setting seventh sac fly this year.  Justman currently ranks third in the NCAA in sacrifice flies with Andie Edwards of Louisiana Monroe the national leader with nine.  Justman, a transfer from Green Bay, leads the Panthers with a .394 batting average and ranks third in the OVC with a 1.129 OPS.  She has eight doubles, six home runs and 24 RBI.
 
Rachel Kaufman hit her second walk-off home run in Ohio Valley Conference play with a two-run shot to beat Tennessee State on Saturday.  The home run was the seventh this season by Kaufman as she is tied for the OVC lead in home runs with teammate Kendall Grover.  Kaufman's other walk-off home run was a solo shot to beat Western Illinois in the third week of the OVC season.  Kaufman's blast on Saturday against TSU was the 19th of her career which moved her into a tie for 10th on the EIU career home run list.  This season Kaufman is hitting .352 with ten doubles, seven home runs and 31 RBI.

Eastern Illinois enters the weekend ranked 29th in the NCAA in doubles as the Panthers have collected 60 so far this season to lead the OVC.  EIU's school record for doubles in a season is 82 set during the 2022 season while they pounded out 80 two-bag hits last season.  At the plate this season EIU is hitting .305 to lead the OVC while also holding the conference lead in runs scored (192), home runs (26) and RBI (173).  The Panthers have also been patient at the plate drawing a league high 105 walks with a team on-base percentage of .378.

Aryn Henke was solid at the plate in the series against Tennessee State hitting .429 for the weekend, one of four players on the roster to hit .400 or better on the weekend.  Henke drove in four of EIU's 12 runs for the weekend including three in Sunday's series clinching win.  For the season Henke is hitting .286 but has increased that average to .370 in OVC play.  
 
STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games:  Rachel Kaufman (16), Kendall Grover (15),  Jadin Justman (11)
Multiple RBI Games:  Rachel Kaufman (9), Jadin Justman (8),  Kendall Grover (8), Briana Gonzalez (7)
Active Hitting Streaks:  McKenzie Oslanzi (4), Aryn Henke (3)
Active Reached Base Streak:   McKenzie Oslanzi (5), Aryn Henke (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.
 
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.  
 
Kendall Grover powered the EIU offense at the Alabama State Black & Gold Tournament earning OVC Player of the Week honors. Grover had multiple hits in all four games giving her eight multi-hit games this season.  Grover hit .563 for the weekend going 9-of-16 at the plate with six of her nine hits for extra bases. Grover had four doubles and two home runs while driving home nine.   She also set the table for the Panthers offense in the lead-off spot scoring seven runs and going 3-of-3 on stolen bases. 
 
Briana Gonzalez was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week after helping guide the Panthers to a 5-1 record in games at IUPUI, Purdue and against Western Illinois.  Gonzalez hit .500 for the week with two home runs and six RBI. 
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois holds a 5-2 all-time series lead over Southern Indiana as the two schools will meet for the second year as Ohio Valley Conference rivals.  The two schools split four meetings last year.  USI won the regular season series winning two of three against EIU at Williams Field in Charleston.  EIU won 2-1 over USI at the OVC Tournament as the Panthers went on to win the OVC Tournament and make their first NCAA Tournament appearance.

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois will play a mid-week series at Valparaiso on Wednesday afternoon before returning home to Williams Field for an OVC weekend series against Tennessee Tech on April 20-21.

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 120-92 with an OVC record of 53-41.  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 Lisaira Daniels, Toby Ring and Macey McElravy.