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A dominating year on the field led to a dominant year on the awards stand as Eastern Illinois softball collected three of the four major end of year awards handed out by the Ohio Valley Conference on Tuesday night (May 7).
 
Kendall Grover was named the OVC Co-Player of the Year.  McKenzie Oslanzi was named the OVC Freshman of the Year.  Tara Archibald was named the OVC Coach of the Year.
 
In addition Grover, Oslanzi, Rachel Kaufman and Jadin Justman earned first team All-OVC honors while Karson Davey was a second team All-OVC selection.   Oslanzi, Justman and Davey were also selected to the All-OVC Newcomer Team.
 
EIU finished the season at 38-15 including a 22-5 record in the OVC as they won their third OVC Regular Season Championship.   EIU opens OVC Tournament play at 12:30 pm on Thursday as the No. 1 seed in this year's tournament in Peoria, Illinois.
 
Grover becomes the second EIU player to win OVC Player of the Year honors earning first-team All-OVC honors for the second straight year.  Last year's OVC Freshman of the Year, Grover avoided the sophomore slump as she ranked among the OVC leaders in just about every offensive category batting from the lead off position.  She ended the regular season as the OVC leader in both home runs (9) and RBI (45).  She was in the top five in the conference in batting average (.356), doubles (18), runs scored (44) and stolen bases (19).
 
Oslanzi was one of the top pitchers in the OVC earning first team All-OVC honors while collecting the program's second straight OVC Freshman of the Year award.  In the circle she led the OVC with 21 wins becoming only the seventh player in program history with 20 or more wins in a season.  Oslanzi posted a 1.62 ERA striking out 141 batters in 164 innings with only 28 walks issued.  She also helped herself as a two-way player at the plate hitting .270 with 24 RBI.  In late April, Oslanzi was named to the TUCCI/NFCA Top 25 Freshman List for the season.
 
Kaufman was a first team selection as an infielder after earning second team All-OVC honors last year as a utility player.  Kaufman was tied for the OVC lead in home runs with nine while finishing second in the conference in RBI with 44.  Three of her home runs were walk-off winning home runs for the Panthers including one this past weekend against Lindenwood.  Kaufman hit .347 this season playing as the everyday first baseman for EIU.
 
Justman was a first team selection at designated player.  She ranked second in the OVC in OPS while hitting .352 on the season.  Earlier this year she had a streak of 22 consecutive games of reaching base, the longest on the Panthers team.  Justman set the school record with seven sacrifice flies, a total that ranks fifth in the NCAA this season.  She added ten doubles, seven home runs and 30 RBI.
 
Davey was a second team selection as an outfielder.  She hit .308 on the season leading the team with 12 sacrifice hits.  The freshman had 22 runs scored with seven doubles, 14 RBI and 14 stolen bases.  Davey had the Panthers longest hitting streak of the season at nine games earlier this year.
 
Archibald becomes the second EIU coach to earn OVC Coach of the Year honors.  The 38 wins is the second most in the program's NCAA Division I history.  Last season she led the Panthers to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.  She won her 100th career game during the opening weekend of the season with a victory over Providence College.