Eastern Illinois (3-7) Softball Upcoming Schedule

February 21-23 at ULM Warhawk Invitational – Monroe, La.
Friday, Feb. 21 at 11:30 am vs. Stephen F. Austin (4-6) … Live Stats
Friday, Feb. 21 at 1:30 pm vs. Houston Christian (2-6) … Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1:30 pm vs. Southern University (3-6) … Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 22 at 4 pm at Louisiana Monroe (3-7) … Live Stats
Sunday Feb. 23 at 10 am vs. Houston Christian … Live Stats


ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois returns to action this weekend as they travel to the Louisiana Monroe Warhawk Invitational for games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  EIU enters the weekend with a 3-7 record following action at the Troy Cardinal Classic last weekend in Alabama.  EIU has one additional in-season tournament next weekend in Florida prior to the start of Ohio Valley Conference play. 

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Junior pitcher Karlie McKenzie tossed the Panthers first shutout of the season as EIU beat Alabama State last weekend 10-0.  McKenzie scattered two hits while striking out four batters in the win.  It was the first win of the season for the junior who currently has a 3.91 ERA in three starts this season.  Last season McKenzie appeared in 17 games with four starts.  She posted a 4-0 record with one save taking part in one individual shutout and one combined shutout win.
 
Kendall Grover ended the Troy Cardinal Classic on a tear collecting two hits in each of the four final games of the weekend to move her season batting average to .438.  Grover has a team-high six multi-hit games this season and currently holds the team's longest active hit streak at four games.  Grover added three doubles to her career total so far this season giving the junior 36 for her career.  She climbed into eighth on the EIU career list matching former Panther Carly Willert in that spot.   Her .438 batting average currently ranks 8th in the OVC after two weeks of action.
 
Abbey Crain had her eight-game hit streak snapped on Sunday in the tournament finale against Troy.  Crain was held without a hit in the season opener against Prairie View A&M back on Feb. 7 before stringing together hits in the next eight games.  She went 0-for-3 on Sunday against the Trojans to end that streak.  She is hitting .333 for the season which ranks second on the team.  Crain is second on the team with six runs scored.
 
Freshman Abbi Hatton has now reached base in eight straight games as she finished the Troy Cardinal Classic with hits in each of the last three games.  Hatton had been hit by a pitch in the first two games of the tournament after collecting hits in the final three games of the opening weekend tournament in Texas.  Hatton is hitting .280 for the season with a double and a home run.  Seeing a good bit of playing time at first base, she has made two errors through the 10 games with 67 putouts and one assist.
 
Eastern Illinois has five different players that have driven in multiple runs in a game this season with Kendall Grover the lone player with multiple multi-RBI games this season with two.  Karson Davey, Kira Manganello, Sophie Cerveny and Abbey Crain all have the other multi-RBI games for the Panthers this season.  Manganello's multi-RBI game came in the second game against Prairie View A&M when she hit two home runs and drove in five.
 
STREAKS & LEADERS (RETURNING)
Multiple Hit Games:  Kendall Grover (6), Abbey Crain (3), Sophie Cerveny (2), Karson Davey (2)
Multiple RBI Games:  Kendall Grover (2), Karson Davey, Kira Manganello, Sophie Cerveny, Abbey Crain
Active Hitting Streaks:   Kendall Grover (4), Karson Davey (3), Abbi Hatton (3)
Active Reached Base Streak:  Abbi Hatton (8), Kendall Grover (4), Karson Davey (3)
 
SEASON LONG NOTES
Senior shortstop Briana Gonzalez was named the Panthers preseason player to watch by the Ohio Valley Conference as part of its preseason information released in late January.  Gonzalez started all 57 games last season at shortstop, one of two EIU players to start every game during the season.  She hit .299 at the plate ranking fourth in the OVC in RBI with 39 and tied for third in the conference with eight home runs.  During her sophomore season (2023) she set the school for being hit by a pitch in a season with 17, that total ranked 12th in the NCAA that season.
 
Eastern Illinois was picked to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll released in late January.  The Panthers received five of the 20 first place votes in the poll and were just one total point behind Southern Indiana which was picked second.  Southast Missouri was selected as the preseason OVC favorite.  EIU won the OVC regular season title last year, the third in program history, posting 40 wins.   The Panthers were the OVC Tournament Champion in 2023 making the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
Eastern Illinois returns OVC Player of the Year Kendall Grover as the junior third baseman ranked among the OVC leaders in most offensive categories hitting .354 with 18 doubles, ten home runs, 46 RBI, 20 stolen bases and 47 runs scored last season.  She was the OVC leader in home runs while ranking second in the league in RBI, doubles, hits and runs scored.  Grover earned NFCA Third Team All-Region honors landing in five EIU single season top ten record lists.  She was second on the team with 21-multiple hit games and ended the year with a 12-game active streak of reaching base in consecutive games.  She was recently named to the D1Softball Preseason List of the nation's top players at third base ranked 13th.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois will renew series with each of the schools in this weekend's ULM Warhawk Invitational Field.  EIU last played Stephen F. Austin in 2011 with SFA holding a 6-2 all-time series lead.  EIU holds a 2-0 series lead over Houston Christian with the last meeting in 2014.  EIU last met Southern University in 2023 and leads the all-time series 4-0.  EIU played tournament host Louisiana Monroe in 2021 with the Panthers holding a 6-4 series lead.

ON DECK:  Following this weekend's tournament at Louisiana Monroe, EIU has one additional early season tournament at the Florida International Softball Classic (Feb. 28 – March 2) before opening Ohio Valley Conference play.

HEAD COACH: Eastern Illinois softball will be under the direction of Kristi Paulson and Dan Paulson.  The husband / wife duo serve as co-head coaches of the program and are in their first season leading Eastern Illinois.  The couple came to EIU following a successful stint at the Junior College level winning 205 games in five years as head coaches at Parkland College.  They guided the team to three NJCAA World Series appearances in four full seasons with their first season cancelled due to COVID 19 in 2020.  They won 50-plus games in three seasons finishing 7th (2021), 5th (2023) and 9th (2024) in the nation each of those seasons. This past year (2024) their coaching staff was named the NJCAA Coaching Staff of the Year by the NFCA going 58-6.  Both Kristi and Dan attended Eastern Illinois as undergraduate students.