Eastern Illinois (15-14, 7-2 OVC) Softball Upcoming Schedule

March 27-30 at Williams Field – Charleston, Ill.
Thursday – March 27 at 4 pm vs. Washington (23-9) … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+
Friday – March 28 at 3 pm vs. Southeast Missouri (13-11, 6-3 OVC) … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+
Friday – March 28 at 5:30 pm vs. Southeast Missouri … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+
Saturday – March 29 at 1 pm vs. Southeast Missouri … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+


ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois hosts a big weekend of games at Williams Field as the Panthers welcome former NCAA National Champion and Big Ten member Washington on Thursday afternoon followed by a weekend series against OVC Tournament champion Southeast Missouri.  EIU is 15-14 overall, 7-2 in the OVC after an OVC series win at UT Martin.  Washington enters at 23-9 and will play at Illinois for a Big Ten series during the weekend.  Southeast Missouri enters at 13-11 overall, 6-3 in the OVC.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Alisha Frederick was named the OVC Player of the Week this past week as the sophomore hit .438 during the Panthers five games, helping the team post a 4-1 record.  In Saturday's doubleheader win over UT Martin, Frederick hit a home run in both ends of the twin bill as she drove home six runs for the weekend.  Frederick had an on-base percentage of .500 while scoring four runs and picking up two stolen bases.
 
Karlie McKenzie was named the OVC Pitcher of the Week this past week as she made four appearances and factored in the decision in three of those outings.  McKenzie posted a 2-0 record in the circle with one save.  She had a 2.15 ERA for the week with 13 strike outs. The save in the final game of the series was the third of the year for McKenzie which leads the OVC and ranks 15th in the NCAA.
 
Eastern Illinois has three games against Big Ten schools on the schedule for this season but only one will visit Williams Field as the Washington Huskies come to town to this week.  EIU has games later this season at Purdue and Illinois.  Since joining the Ohio Valley Conference in 1996, Washington will be only the fourth Power Four Conference school to visit Williams Field for softball.  The last to do so was Illinois in 2012 with additional trips in 2005 and 2007.  EIU has also hosted Michigan State in 2001 and Northwestern in 1998.
 
Kendall Grover enters the week with a nine-game hit streak as she hit .529 in the five OVC games last week.  Grover has reached base in 13 consecutive games and currently ranks second in the OVC in batting average at .433.  Just a junior, last year's OVC Player of the year has already joined the EIU career top ten in doubles, home runs, RBI and runs scored.  She ranks in the OVC top five in all four categories this season.
 
Abbey Crain extended her current hitting streak to nine games over the weekend at UT Martin as she hit .353 for the weekend increasing her season average to .311.  Crain scored four runs from the lead-off spot in the line-up while swiping two bases.  For the season she is tied for the team lead with four stolen bases with Alisha Frederick and Karson Davey.
 
Karson Davey was solid at the plate last week hitting .462 over the five games with EIU posting a 4-1 record.  Davey had a double with three RBI while scoring four runs.  On the season she is tied for second on the team with four doubles.  Davey has three sacrifice bunts this season after leading the OVC in that category last year.
 
Briana Gonzalez returned to the Panthers line-up for the series at UT Martin after the senior infielder missed the Morehead State series for family reasons.  Gonzalez had two hits at UT Martin with one walk.  This season Gonzalez ranks as the top EIU hitter in terms of being the toughest to strike out as she ranks 66th in the NCAA and third in the OVC.
 
Sophia Olman caught all five games behind the plate last week as the sophomore hit .333 with two doubles and two RBI.  Last season Olman came on to be the Panthers everyday catcher at the end of the year and has slowly moved back into that role following some early season injuries and illness. 
 
Infielder Mia Mazzola will have a family reunion this Thursday when the Panthers host Washington.  Her younger sister Sophi plays for Washington and is hitting .317 during her first season of college softball.  Mia has appeared in 11 games this season with two runs scored.
 
McKenzie Oslanzi picked up a win and a save last week during four appearances in the circle.  Oslanzi had 20 strike outs compared to just four walks issued.  She is currently second in the league with nine wins this year while ranking ninth in ERA and third in strikeouts.
 
STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games:  Kendall Grover (14), Abbey Crain (6),  Karson Davey (5), Alisha Frederick (5)
Multiple RBI Games:  Kendall Grover (6), Abbi Hatton (4), Karson Davey (3), Abbey Crain (3), Briana Gonzalez (3)
Active Hitting Streaks:   Kendall Grover (9), Abbey Crain (9), Karson Davey (7), Sophia Olman (6), Alisha Frederick (5) 
Active Reached Base Streak:  Kendall Grover (13), Abbey Crain (10), Briana Gonzalez (7), Alisha Frederick (7), Karson Davey (7) 

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.  She added her second OVC Player of the Week Award after the OVC opening series against 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. 
 
McKenzie Oslanzi was named the OVC Pitcher of the Week (March 10) 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.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois will face Big Ten member Washington on Thursday at Williams Field.  This will be the first meeting between the two schools and the first of three contests this season for EIU against teams from the Big Ten.   This weekend EIU is slated to host Southeast Missouri for an OVC series.  SEMO holds a 51-43 lead in the all-time series having won three of the five meetings between the schools last year.  EIU won the regular season series winning two of three in Cape Girardeau.  SEMO won both contests at the OVC Tournament including a win in the OVC Championship game.

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois will be back on the road next weekend as the Panthers play an OVC series at Tennessee Tech.

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.