Eastern Illinois made a defensive play at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Panthers beat Tennessee State 4-3 to open their weekend OVC series in Nashville.
 
EIU held a one run lead in the bottom of the seventh, TSU attempted to score on an infield single with two outs as the ball was hit to back-up second baseman Mia Mazzola who threw home to get the final out at the plate.
 
The Panthers improved to 23-17 overall, 15-3 in the OVC with the win.  TSU fell to 20-15 overall, 10-8 in the OVC.
 
TSU jumped out a 1-0 lead against EIU starter McKenzie Oslanzi (13-10) as Onnika Spencer connected for an RBI single in the first. 
 
Oslanzi would work through the fourth to pick up the win.  Karlie McKenzie closed out the final three innings allowing just two hits and no runs to pick up her league leading fifth save.
 
EIU took the lead in the third as they scored in three straight innings against TSU starter Reina Castillo (14-5).
 
Kendall Grover tied the game with an RBI triple to center and scored the go ahead run on a double steal with Alisha Frederick after Frederick reached on a walk.
 
Sophia Olman drove home a run with a single in the fourth with Frederick driving in the final EIU run in the fifth.  Olman was the lone player in the game with multiple hits going 2-for-3.
 
TSU would score its two additional runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Hailey Hunt and a wild pitch which allowed Mikayla Duke to score.