Eastern Illinois (10-13, 2-1 OVC) Softball Upcoming Schedule

March 16-17 vs. Morehead State (1-22, 0-3 OVC) at Williams Field – Charleston, Ill.
Sunday, March 16 at 2 pm … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+
Monday, March 17 at 12 pm … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+
Monday, March 17 at 2:30 pm … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+


ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois hosts Morehead State this weekend as the Panthers play their home opener at Williams Field.  EIU took two of three last week on the road at Lindenwood to open OVC play 2-1, moving to 10-13 overall.   Morehead State is 1-22 on the season and 0-3 in the OVC after an opening series loss to SIUE.   Due to weekend weather forecasts the series has been adjusted to a single game Sunday and doubleheader on Monday.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Kendall Grover was named the OVC Player of the Week for the second time this season after her offensive efforts at Lindenwood.  Grover hit .667 over the series with three home runs and one double finishing the weekend with a 2.333 slugging percentage.  In the series finale on Sunday she was walked four times including two intentional walks.  Grover is currently fourth in the OVC in batting average at .414.  She leads the league in both hits and home runs while ranking in the OVC top five in runs scored, walks and RBI.
 
McKenzie Oslanzi was named the OVC Pitcher of the Week for her efforts against Lindenwood.  Oslanzi had a pair of bookend complete game shutouts in the series.  She allowed one unearned run in the second game of the series taking a loss in relief finishing the weekend with a 2-1 record and 0.00 ERA.  She is currently second in the OVC in wins while ranking in the OVC Top Ten in innings pitched, strike outs and ERA.
 
Kira Manganello reached base once again via hit-by-pitch as the freshman catcher enters the weekend ranked first in the nation in being hit by pitch reaching that way 12 times.   Her total has already placed her third on the EIU single season list with the school record of 17 set by teammate Briana Gonzalez just two years ago.
 
Abbey Crain picked up hits in all three games of last weekend's series as she moved her season batting average to .304.  Crain is third on the Panthers roster in batting average and second on the team in hits.  She has five multi-hit games this season.
 
Briana Gonzalez has picked up hits in four straight games holding the Panthers longest current active hitting streak.  Gonzalez has moved her season batting average up to .311 after going 5-for-8 last week at Lindenwood.  Gonzalez has four multi-hit games this season and three multi-RBI games after driving in two in the opening game win at Lindenwood.
 
STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games:  Kendall Grover (11), Abbey Crain (5),  Briana Gonzalez (4)
Multiple RBI Games:  Kendall Grover (5), Karson Davey (3), Abbi Hatton (3), Abbey Crain (3), Briana Gonzalez (3)
Active Hitting Streaks:   Briana Gonzalez (4), Kendall Grover (3), Abbey Crain (3), McKenzie Oslanzi (3)
Active Reached Base Streak:  Kendall Grover (7), McKenzie Oslanzi (5), Briana Gonzalez (4), Abbey Crain (4), Abbi Hatton (4)
 
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.  Southeast 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.
 
Kendall Grover was named the OVC Player of the Week (Feb. 24) following her performance at the ULM Warhawk Invite.  Grover hit .429 for the weekend with two home runs and four RBI.  She ranked second among players in the tournament field with seven runs scored.  Grover drew five walks and did not strikeout in 19 weekend plate appearances.  For the season Grover is hitting .435 for the season which ranks sixth in the OVC this season.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois will host Morehead State this weekend for the Panthers home opener at Williams Field.  EIU holds a 53-24 all-time lead in the series including a series sweep at Morehead State last season.  EIU has won 20 straight in the series with the last Morehead State win coming on March 23, 2015 at Morehead State.   The Eagles have not won a game in Charleston at Williams Field since April 2009.     

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois returns to the road next weekend as the Panthers will play their third OVC series of the season at UT Martin on March 22-23.

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.