Eastern Illinois (22-17, 14-3 OVC) Softball Upcoming Schedule

April 16 at Saint Louis (22-19) Billiken Sports Center – St. Louis, Mo.
Wednesday – April 16 at 5 pm … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+
 
April 17-18 at Tennessee State (20-13, 10-7 OVC) – Tiger Field – Nashville, Tenn.
Friday – April 17 at 1 pm … Live Stats  |  
Friday – April 17 at 3:30 pm … Live Stats  |  
Saturday – April 18 at 1 pm … Live Stats | 

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois hits the road for four games this week as the Panthers will play at Saint Louis for a Wednesday midweek game before an OVC series at Tennessee State on Friday and Saturday.   EIU improved to 22-17 overall, 14-3 in the OVC as the Panthers swept their weekend OVC series against Southern Indiana.  EIU has now won seven straight OVC games and sits in first place in the OVC standings.  EIU did lose in its midweek game at Purdue, the second of three games against Big Ten schools this year.  Saint Louis enters at 22-19 as they won a Monday doubleheader at Rhode Island.  Tennessee State is 20-13 overall, 10-7 in the OVC after being swept last weekend by SIUE.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Sophia Olman had two of the Panthers four hits in Sunday's extra inning win over Southern Indiana including a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth.  It was the first home run of the season for Olman who had four hits during Sunday's doubleheader sweep.  Olman has three multi-hit games this season with all three coming in OVC play.
 
Karlie McKenzie took a no-hitter into the seventh inning on Sunday pitching 6.1 innings of no-hit softball against Southern Indiana.  USI would finish with three total hits and one run after breaking up the no-hit bid.  McKenzie did finish with a complete game to collect her seventh win of the season.  On Saturday she pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief for her OVC leading fourth save.  In OVC play this season McKenzie is now 5-0 with three saves and a 1.74 ERA.  In the weekend series against USI, she had an ERA of 0.69 with a win and save to her credit.
 
Abbi Hatton extended her current hit streak to four games, which is the longest active streak on the Panthers squad, with hits in all four games last week.  She closed the Southern Indiana series going 2-for-4 at the plate with one RBI.   Hatton opened the series on Saturday with a two-run home run for her second homer of the season. 
 
Alisha Frederick had hits in two of the Panthers three weekend games against Southern Indiana as the sophomore transfer belted her fourth home run of the season in the game one winner.  She scored twice in that series opening win and has scored six runs in the last five OVC games. 
 
Morgan Hance closed out a series win with a big game for the second straight weekend.  Two weeks ago Hance was 3-for-3 with four RBI in the closing game win at Tennessee Tech.  On Sunday she was 3-for-4 driving in two runs with a walk-off double to win the final game of the series against Southern Indiana.  For the season Hance is now hitting .408 with three multi-hit games in her last six contests.
 
McKenzie Oslanzi picked up her 11th and 12th wins of the season over the weekend as Eastern Illinois swept the weekend series against Southern Indiana.  Oslanzi wrapped up the weekend with a complete game victory allowing no earned runs on Sunday.  During OVC play she is now 7-3 with two saves and a 1.59 ERA.  Her strikeout to walk ratio has improved in OVC play with 57 strikeouts and 15 walks.
 
Abbey Crain picked up hits in each of the last two games against Southern Indiana increasing her season batting average to .309.  She had her ninth multi-hit game of the season in the Sunday opener against USI and scored a run in the second game.  Her 28 runs scored this year currently rank tied for sixth in the OVC.  Defensively in the outfield, Crain has been perfect this season in 69 defensive chances.
 
Karson Davey has now picked up hits in seven straight Ohio Valley Conference games as she had four hits over the weekend against Southern Indiana.  Davey had hit .700 in the series sweep two weeks ago at Tennessee Tech and hit .363 last weekend against Southern Indiana.  She now has nine multi-hit games after two hits in the opener with USI.  Her batting average is now at .305 for the season.
 
Kendall Grover broke out a three-game hitless slump finishing the weekend series with Southern Indiana with two hits on Sunday.  Grover moved her season average to .412 for the year adding her 17th multi-hit game this season.  Grover currently ranks among the OVC leaders in most offensive categories landing second in batting average, first in OPS, first in hits, first in runs scored, second in walks, third in home runs and tenth in RBI.  She had her 19-game streak of reaching base snapped at Purdue.
 
Maddux Marshall started all three weekend games at shortstop for the Panthers picking up hits in each of the last two games of the series.  She increased her season batting average to .286 and drove in her third run of the season in the final game of the weekend series.

STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games:  Kendall Grover (17), Abbey Crain (9),  Karson Davey (9), Alisha Frederick (6),  Briana Gonzalez (6)
Multiple RBI Games:  Kendall Grover (7), Briana Gonzalez (5), Abbi Hatton (5),  Abbey Crain (4),  Alisha Frederick (4)
Active Hitting Streaks:   Abbi Hatton (4), Karson Davey (3) 
Active Reached Base Streak:  Abbi Hatton (4), Karson Davey (3), Abbey Crain (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.  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.
 
Alisha Frederick was named the OVC Player of the Week (March 24) as the sophomore hit .438 during the Panthers five games, helping the team post a 4-1 record.  In the 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 (March 24) 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.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois will continue series against both Saint Louis and Tennessee State for action this week.  EIU holds a 18-13 all-time lead in the series with Saint Louis with the two teams splitting games last season at the WKU Hilltopper Classic.   EIU holds a 55-15 all-time series against Tennessee State taking two of three in the series at Williams Field last year in Charleston. 

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois returns home to Williams Field where the Panthers will host Indiana State on Tuesday, April 22 and then SIUE for an OVC series on April 26-27.

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.