Eastern Illinois (27-19) Softball Upcoming Schedule

April 30 at Illinois (21-25) at Eichelberger Field – Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
Wednesday – April 30 at 5 pm … Live Stats  | Watch Big Ten Plus

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois will play its final non-conference game of the season on Wednesday night at Illinois.  It marks the third Big Ten opponent this season after EIU hosted Washington earlier this year and played at Purdue.  EIU enters at 27-19 overall having lost two of three in a home weekend series against Western Illinois.  EIU still holds a one-game lead in the overall OVC standings entering the final weekend of conference play in first place.  Illinois lost two of three against Rutgers and is 21-25 overall.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Eastern Illinois honored the three seniors on its team over the weekend as the Panthers played their final home series at Williams Field.  Sophie Cerveny, Abbey Crain and Briana Gonzalez all were honored following Saturday's opening game of the series.  For the weekend Cerveny had three hits including two hits in the 10-inning win over SIUE on Sunday where she drove in one run.  Crain had hits in all three weekend games extending her current hitting streak to nine games.  She had two hits in each of the last two games of the weekend series as she ranks second on the team with a .333 batting average.  Gonzalez had a hit in the opening game of the weekend series.  She was also hit by a pitch in the Sunday doubleheader as she ranks fourth all-time at EIU in hit-by-pitch.
 
Karson Davey extended her current hit streak to five straight games going 5-for-10 at the plate during the weekend.  Davey increased her season average to .310 and picked up multiple hits in the final two games of the weekend series.  She had her fourth double of the season in the final game of the weekend.
 
Alisha Frederick picked up hits in both of Sunday's games after missing Saturday's contest with a family obligation.  She was 3-for-5 for the weekend with one RBI in the series.
 
Kendall Grover had hits in each of the weekend games as she continues to keep her season average over .400 at a current .410 clip.  She has a current eight game hit streak with Grover ranking in the OVC Top Ten in average, runs, doubles, home runs and RBI this season.  She is looking to become just the eighth player in the school's NCAA Division I history to hit over .400 for a season.
 
Morgan Hance had hits in the first two games of the weekend series with SIUE.  The freshman who has slid in to be the starter at the designated player position saw her average drop below the .400 mark for the first time in several weeks as she went 2-for-11 for the weekend.
 
Abbi Hatton had two hits in the ten-inning win over SIUE on Sunday including a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth which scored Morgan Hance.  Hatton did go 0-for-2 in the final game of the series as her five-game hit streak was snapped.  She drove in two runs in two of the four EIU games played last week.
 
McKenzie Oslanzi had one of her best outings of the season in relief on Sunday as she pitched six innings allowing just one unearned run with nine strikeouts in the extra-inning win over SIUE.  Oslanzi factored in the decision in all three games for the weekend as she is now 16-12 on the year with her 11 wins in OVC play the most in the conference.  Her overall ERA is 2.60 with her OVC ERA dipping to 1.89 this year.
 
STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games:  Kendall Grover (20), Abbey Crain (12),  Karson Davey (11), Briana Gonzalez (8)
Multiple RBI Games:  Kendall Grover (9), Abbi Hatton (7),  Briana Gonzalez (5),  Abbey Crain (5)
Active Hitting Streaks:   Abbey Crain (9), Kendall Grover (8), Karson Davey (5) 
Active Reached Base Streak:  Abbey Crain (10), Kendall Grover (9), Karson Davey (5)

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.  Kendall Grover was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week for the third time this season (April 21) 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. 
 
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 the third Big Ten team on its schedule this season when the Panthers travel to Illinois on Wednesday.  Illinois holds a 17-3 lead in the all-time series with the schools last meeting on the softball diamond in 2019.  EIU's last win in the series was May 2, 2017 (W, 4-3).

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois will wrap up the 2025 regular season this weekend at Western Illinois before playing in the OVC Tournament, May 7-10 in Peoria, Illinois.

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.