Eastern Illinois (16-16, 8-3 OVC) Softball Upcoming Schedule

April 4-5 at Tennessee Tech (10-23, 4-8 OVC ) Tech Softball Field- Cookeville, Tenn.
Friday – April 4 at 2 pm  … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+
Friday – April 4 at 4:30 pm … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+
Saturday – April 5 at 12 pm  … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois returns to the road for the fifth weekend of the Ohio Valley Conference schedule as the Panthers will play on Friday and Saturday at Tennessee Tech.  The series has been adjusted up one day due to projected inclement weather on Sunday.  EIU enters the weekend at 16-16 overall, 8-3 in the OVC as the Panthers are tied for second in the league standings with Tennessee State.  The Panthers lost at home last week to Big Ten member Washington in extra innings before splitting a Friday doubleheader with Southeast Missouri.  The final game of the series was rained out.  Tennessee Tech enters at 10-23 overall, 4-8 in the OVC.  The Golden Eagles lost all three-game last week on the road at Southern Indiana.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Kendall Grover continues to swing one of the hottest bats in the Ohio Valley Conference as she hit .429 in the Panthers three games last week. She did have her 10-game hit streak snapped on Friday against Southeast Missouri but has reached base in 16 consecutive games.  Grover currently leads the OVC in hits, runs scored, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.  She is second in the league batting average (.433) and second in the league in home runs hitting her eighth on Friday.  She is fourth in the league in walks drawn and seventh in RBI.
 
McKenzie Oslanzi threw a complete game on Friday against Southeast Missouri but was the hard luck loser as the Redhawks scored three unearned runs in the seventh.  In two appearances for the week, the sophomore had a 0.70 ERA with seven strike outs in ten innings of work.  She currently ranks seventh in the league in ERA with a 2.83 ERA while leading the league in innings pitched.  She is second in the conference with nine wins and third in the league in strike outs.
 
Abbey Crain had her ten game hit streak snapped on Friday against Southeast Missouri after collecting two hits on Thursday night against Big Ten member Washington.  Crain is currently fifth in the OVC in runs scored with 22.  She is now hitting .300 for the season.
 
Karlie McKenzie picked up a win on Friday against Southeast Missouri as she improved to 5-3 on the season.  McKenzie, the OVC Pitcher the Week last week, currently ranks eighth in the league in wins and tenth in strike outs.  She has three saves this season which ranks first in the OVC.
 
Bryanna French appeared in her third OVC contest of the season in relief of Karlie McKenzie in the second game of the weekend series with Southeast Missouri.  French picked up the save in the game and currently has a 0.00 ERA in OVC play adding a win in relief against Morehead State.  French was the third pitcher used against Big Ten member Washington last week and suffered the loss in the extra inning set back.
 
Sophia Olman has taken over the starting catcher position for the Panthers moving into the spot during the final two games of the FIU Panthers Spring Tournament.   She is hitting .276 in OVC play with three doubles and two RBI.  Olman had a six game hit streak she carried into last week's games before getting one hit against Southeast Missouri.
 
Kira Manganello was hit by a pitch for the 14th time this season which currently ranks the freshman second in the NCAA in that category.  Manganello's total this season already has her tied for ninth on the EIU career charts and she is second on the single season charts.  The EIU single season school record is 17 set by teammate Briana Gonzalez two years ago.  This season Manganello has a batting average of just .114 but her on-base percentage is .418.
 
Mia Mazzola was able to play against her younger sister Sophi on Thursday when Eastern Illinois hosted Big Ten member Washington at Williams Field.  Both sisters started in the game and were part of the pregame roster exchange at home plate.   The junior infielder for the Panthers made two defensive plays in the infield but was 0-for-3 at the plate.  On Friday against Southeast Missouri, Mazzola started the second game of the doubleheader and went 2-for-3 for a run scored.  Mazzola had hits in games against Prairie View A&M and Morehead State earlier this year.
 
Alisha Frederick had her seven game hit streak snapped in the final game of the series against Southeast Missouri.  The sophomore transfer was last week's OVC Player of the Week and is now hitting .297 for the season.  She has three multi-hit games in her last six contests with six total multiple hit games for the season.
 
Morgan Hance picked up hits in both games of Friday's OVC doubleheader against Southeast Missouri as the freshman is hitting .367 for the season.  Hance drove home two of her six RBI for the year in the win over the Redhawks.  She now has hits in ten of her 19 games this season with a two-hit game against Bradley.

STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games:  Kendall Grover (15), Abbey Crain (7),  Alisha Frederick (6), Karson Davey (5)
Multiple RBI Games:  Kendall Grover (6), Abbi Hatton (4), Karson Davey (3), Abbey Crain (3), Briana Gonzalez (3), Alisha Frederick (3)
Active Hitting Streaks:   Morgan Hance (2)… longest streaks snapped last weekend (10 for both Kendall Grover and Abbey Crain) 
Active Reached Base Streak:  Kendall Grover (16), Morgan Hance (2) … (12 game streak for Abbey Crain stopped last weekend) 

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 face Tennessee Tech this weekend for an OVC series that has been adjusted to a Friday / Saturday schedule based on projected inclement weather.   EIU won two of three last season against the Golden Eagles with TTU leading the all-time series 41-31. 

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois will face the second of two Big Ten teams on the schedule for a midweek contest at Purdue on Wednesday, April 9 before hosting Southern Indiana for a weekend series on Saturday and Sunday at Williams Field.

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.