Eastern Illinois (25-17) Softball Upcoming Schedule

April 22 vs Indiana State (15-29), Williams Field – Charleston, Ill.
Tuesday – April 22 at 5 pm … Live Stats  |  Watch ESPN+
 

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois will play its final four home games this week at Willams Field.  The Panthers open with a Tuesday non-conference game with Indiana State followed by a weekend series against SIUE.  EIU swept its OVC series at Tennessee State last week to improve to 25-17 overall, 17-3 in the OVC.  Indiana State won two of three in a weekend series at Bradley improving to 15-29 overall.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Kendall Grover was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week for the third time this season after powering EIU to a series sweep at Tennessee State.  Grover collected hits in all three games with a .417 average for the weekend.  She had two doubles, a triple and a home run while driving in eight runs for the weekend.  Grover ranks among the OVC leaders in just about every offensive category this season.
 
Karlie McKenzie picked up a win and a save during the weekend in the circle as she posted a 0.70 ERA during ten innings of work.  McKenzie has four saves in OVC play and her five overall saves this season rank her 12th in the NCAA.  In OVC play McKenzie has been solid posting a 6-0 record with a 1.55 ERA and four saves.  She has 49 strikeouts in 54.1 innings of OVC work.
 
McKenzie Oslanzi made two starts in the Tennessee State weekend series walking away with wins in both contests.  Oslanzi allowed three runs during the weekend pitching nine innings as she lowered her season ERA to 2.72 picking up her 14th win. Oslanzi has now won five straight OVC starts.
 
Morgan Hance picked up hits in all three games of the series with Tennessee State as the freshman outfielder is now hitting .439 for the year.  Hance had multiple hits in both games of Saturday's doubleheader sweep including connecting for her third double of the season. 
 
Kira Manganello was hit-by-pitch for the 15th time this season in the final game of the weekend series at Tennessee State.  The total leads the OVC and ranks 12th in the NCAA this season.   Manganello's total is already second on the EIU single season list trailing teammate Briana Gonzalez total of 17 from two seasons ago.  Manganello laid down two sacrifice bunts and had a single during Saturday's doubleheader sweep.
 
Abbey Crain continues to increase her season average as the fifth year outfield is now hitting .324 after going 4-for-5 in the final game at Tennessee State.  Crain has the longest active hit streak for EIU at five games.  Saturday's final game marked the tenth time this season Crain has had multiple hits in a game with her previous high of three coming in the series sweep at Tennessee Tech.
 
Sophia Olman hit her second home run of the season on Saturday helping EIU complete the weekend sweep against Tennessee State.  Olman picked up hits in two of the three weekend games and has hits in four of EIU's last five games. 
 
Eastern Illinois put together a solid team weekend at the plate during the Panthers series sweep at Tennessee State.  EIU hit .307 as a team scoring 17 runs over the three games.  The team was 6-of-7 in stolen base attempts with three doubles, a triple and two home runs for power numbers at the plate.  On the season EIU ranks fifth in the OVC in team batting average with a .276 clip.  The Panthers have improved that team average to .301 in OVC play which is currently fourth best in the league.   EIU does currently have the best overall team ERA for both the overall and OVC season.
 

STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games:  Kendall Grover (19), Abbey Crain (10),  Karson Davey (9), Briana Gonzalez (7)
Multiple RBI Games:  Kendall Grover (9), Briana Gonzalez (5), Abbi Hatton (5),  Abbey Crain (5)
Active Hitting Streaks:   Abbey Crain (5), Kendall Grover (4), Morgan Hance (4) 
Active Reached Base Streak:  Abbey Crain (6), Kendall Grover (5), Morgan Hance (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.  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 regional rival Indiana State on Tuesday facing the Sycamores for the first time since the 2021 season.  EIU holds a 36-28 all-time series lead.

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois wraps up play at Williams Field this week where they will host SIUE on Saturday and Sunday for a three-game weekend series.   EIU will honor its 2025 senior class on Saturday following the game. 

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.