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Eastern Illinois (38-15, 22-5 OVC) Softball Upcoming Schedule

May 9-11 at Ohio Valley Conference Tournament (Peoria, Ill.)
May 9 at 12:30 pm vs. TBA … Live Stats  |  ESPN+
 
BRACKET  |  TOURNAMENT CENTRAL


ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois improved to 38-15 overall, 22-5 in the OVC over the weekend as the Panthers swept Lindenwood at home to close the regular season on a six-game win streak.  EIU won its third OVC Regular Season Championship (2011, 2013) and plays as the No. 1 seed in the OVC Tournament receiving a double bye to play its opening game on Thursday at 12:30 pm.  EIU will face the winner of the game between No. 4 seed Southern Indiana, and thes winner of the UT Martin / SIUE elimination game on Wednesday.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Eastern Illinois enters the OVC Tournament as the conference offensive leaders in just about every offensive category.  EIU leads the OVC in team batting average at .300 with the Panthers only previously hitting over .300 for a season once in school history (.302 in 1990).  The Panthers have scored 279 runs this season to average just over 5.2 runs per game.  The 279 runs currently ranks 2nd on the EIU single season list.  This season the Panthers have already posted school single season top five marks in doubles (76- 5th), home runs (36 – 5th), RBI (249 – 2nd), stolen bases (81 – 4th), hits (416 – 5th) and walks drawn (167 – 3rd).
 
Eastern Illinois passed the 30 win mark for the second straight and increased that total to 38 wins with a series sweep over Lindenwood.  EIU's school record for wins in a season is 45 set during the 1982 season.  The Panthers record for wins in a season at the Division I level is 40 set in 2011.   Last season EIU won 34 games advancing to the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.  The 38 wins is tied for the second most in the program's NCAA Division I history.
 
Eastern Illinois won its third OVC regular season championship over the weekend as EIU finished the regular season with a 22-5 record.  The Panthers swept or won eight of their nine regular season series with the lone series loss on the road at SIUE.  EIU won previous OVC regular season titles in 2011 and 2013.  Last season EIU finished second in the regular season and won three straight games at the OVC Tournament to claim the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament bid.  This year marks the third time in program history EIU has won 20 or more games in a conference season.   EIU's school record is 26 during the 2011 season while winning 20 OVC games in 2013. 
 
Kendall Grover was a first-team All-OVC selection and OVC Freshman of the Year last season earning All-Region honors as EIU made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.  This season Grover has avoided the sophomore slump putting up even more impressive numbers batting out of the Panthers lead-off spot in the line-up.   Grover was the OVC leader in RBI this season with 45 while tying for the OVC lead with teammate Rachel Kaufman with nine home runs.  Grover ranked in the OVC top ten in batting average, hits, runs scored, doubles, home runs, RBI, OPS and stolen bases.  Her 44 runs this season are just five shy of the school record of 49 set by Jen Cherveny in 1997.  Grover's 45 RBI rank 5th on the EIU single season list while her 18 doubles are sixth, nine home runs are eighth and 64 hits are tenth.
 
Rachel Kaufman earned second team All-OVC honors as a utility player last year as the Panthers No. 2 pitcher and designated player in the offensive line-up.  This season she has moved to be the everyday first baseman for the Panthers continuing to put up solid offensive numbers.  She tied Kendall Grover for the OVC lead in home runs with nine, three of those nine being walk-off home runs to end games at home for EIU.  Kaufman was second in the OVC in RBI with 44 while ranking third on the EIU team in batting average.  In the circle in 12 appearances she posted a 3-2 record with one save and a 3.80 ERA.
 
McKenzie Oslanzi emerged as the Panthers top arm this season earning OVC Pitcher of the Week the first three weeks of the season.  She led the OVC in wins with 21 and was second in ERA with a 1.62 ERA.   The 21 wins are tied for the fourth most in a single season at EIU with the school record of 24 set by Zam Mogill.  She has tossed 24 complete games this year with 141 strike outs and just 28 walks issued. 
 
Olivia Price, last year's OVC Pitcher of the Year and OVC Tournament MVP, picked up her 10th win of the season on Saturday against Lindenwood as the senior was 10-9 on the year with a 3.47 ERA.  Price opened the season with a complete game shutout against UT Arlington and has added two more shutout wins in OVC play to rank in the EIU career top ten for shutouts.  She also moved into the OVC top ten for wins over the last two weeks with wins at Morehead State and against Lindenwood.
 
Jadin Justman was a two-time All-Region performer at Green Bay prior to transferring to the Panthers roster this season.  She suffered an injury in the fall and played the spring season as the designated player and in right field instead of her natural second base position.  Justman was second in the OVC in OPS this season hitting .352 with seven home runs and 30 RBI.  She led the OVC in sacrifice flies with seven which set the EIU single season record and ranks fifth in the NCAA.  During the season she posted a team-best steak of reaching base in 22 straight games.  The longest active streak on the Panthers roster is eight games held by both Kendall Grover and Briana Gonzalez.
 
Briana Gonzalez finished as one of five everyday starters for the Panthers that hit over .300 for the season as the junior shortstop hit .310 at the plate.  Gonzalez helped provide power numbers at the plate as she ranked third in the OVC in both home runs (8) and RBI (39) behind teammates Kendall Grover and Rachel Kaufman.  Last season Gonzalez set the school single season record for getting hit-by-pitch with 17 which ranked 12th in the NCAA, this season she has only reached via the hit-by-pitch three times.
 
Karson Davey was the Panthers final everyday player to hit over .300 for the season as the freshman outfielder hit .308.  Davey helped anchor the EIU defense in centerfield with 33 starts in center with ten additional starts between the two corner outfield positions.  This season she led the Panthers with 12 sacrifice bunts which ranks sixth on the EIU single season list.  Earlier this season she posted a nine-game hitting streak which was the longest this season by a Panthers player.
 
Last year at the end of the regular season Marama Makea came on to win the starting job at second base starting all three games in the OVC Tournament and both NCAA Tournament games.  This season she has anchored herself in the position with 40 starts at second base hitting .252 with six doubles from the bottom part of the EIU line-up.  Against Tennessee Tech this season Makea helped EIU turned one of the rare triple plays this season as with bases loaded and no outs in the first she caught a soft liner up the middle, stepped on second base for the second out and threw to first to complete the triple play.  Only eight teams this year in NCAA Division I softball have turned a triple play.
 
Aryn Henke earned All-OVC Newcomer team honors last season as a junior college transfer from John A. Logan College.  This season Henke has become a true utility player for the Panthers opening the year as a starter in the outfield and more recently becoming a starter behind the plate as the everyday catcher for Olivia Price.  Henke is in the top ten in the OVC this season in walks drawn with 21 and hit .310 during OVC action.  Henke has made 20 of her 42 starts this season at catcher.
 
EIU has had several other key role players during the course of the season with freshman catcher Sophia Olman making 10 starts and hitting .423 this season.   Sophie Cerveny, a transfer from Omaha, has played in 40 games making 36 starts with a .259 batting average.  Marybeth Dyson has started 30 games this season and appeared in another 18 as a defensive replacement with a .250 batting average on the year.  Karlie McKenzie was a JUCO All-American last season and this season posted a 4-0 record with a 2.73 ERA in midweek work.  Over the final two weeks of the OVC season she posted a 2-0 record with one save.

 
STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games:  Rachel Kaufman (21),  Kendall Grover (20),  Jadin Justman (15)
Multiple RBI Games:  Kendall Grover (12), Briana Gonzalez (11), Rachel Kaufman (11),  Jadin Justman (9),  
Active Hitting Streaks:  Rachel Kaufman (6), Kendall Grover (5)
Active Reached Base Streak:  Briana Gonzalez (8), Kendall Grover (8), Rachel Kaufman (7)
 
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.
 
McKenzie Oslanzi was named the OVC Pitcher of the Week in each of the first three weeks of the season as she opened the season in dominant fashion.  Oslanzi was 6-0 over the opening three weeks of the season with nine appearances, two complete games, two shutouts and one save in those opening three weeks.  She had an ERA of 0.80 with 53 strike outs in 43.2 innings of work while issuing just four walks. 
 
McKenzie Oslanzi was named to the TUCCI/NFCA Freshman To Watch Top 25 list in late April.  She led the OVC with 21 wins during the season becoming just the seventh pitcher in school history with 20 or more wins. 
 
Eastern Illinois had three players win OVC Player of the Week honors during the course of the season.  Rachel Kaufman won the award following the opening weekend of the year when the Panthers jumped out to a 5-0 start to the year.   Kendall Grover won the award twice during the season, the first time following EIU's action at the Alabama State Black & Gold Tournament and the second after EIU won OVC series against both Southern Indiana and Tennessee Tech.  Briana Gonzalez was the OVC Player of the Week one time after EIU's week against IUPUI, Purdue and Western Illinois.
 
 
OVC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Eastern Illinois will be making its 22nd OVC Tournament appearance when the Panthers open tournament play on Thursday.  This is the third straight appearance under head coach Tara Archibald.  Last season EIU broke through for its first-ever OVC Tournament championship advancing to the NCAA Regional hosted by Northwestern.   EIU had previously finished runner-up in 1997, 1998 and 1999.  This will be the third time EIU has played in the OVC Tournament as the No. 1 seed.  EIU went 1-2 in each of those previous tournaments serving as the tournament host in 2011 and 2013.  EIU is 37-38 all-time in OVC Tournament play.

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois plays this week at the Ohio Valley Conference looking to punch its ticket to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearance. 

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 133-95 with an OVC record of 64-42.  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.