Eastern Illinois (28-19, 18-5 OVC) Softball Upcoming Schedule

May 3-4 at Western Illinois (11-34, 7-17) at Mary Ellen McKee Stadium – Macomb, Illinois
Saturday – May 3 at 12 pm … Live Stats  | Watch ESPN+
Saturday – May 3 at 2:30 pm … Live Stats  | Watch ESPN+
Sunday – May 4 at 12 pm … Live Stats  | Watch ESPN+

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois both have OVC Tournament implications riding on this weekend's final series.  EIU enters in first place in the OVC overall standings with a one-game lead over SIUE and a two-game lead over Southeast Missouri.  EIU is 28-19 overall, 18-5 in the OVC after dropping two of three to the Cougars last weekend at home.   WIU enters at the bottom end of the standings currently a game behind Tennessee Tech for the final spot in the OVC Tournament field at 11-34 overall, 7-17 in the OVC.  WIU was swept last weekend by Morehead State.    The top two teams in the OVC Tournament field receive a double-bye to the Thursday portion of the bracket.  Seeds 3 and 4 receive a single bye and are in the double elimination bracket (EIU has already locked up at least a top four seed).  The final four teams in the field play a single elimination game on Wednesday morning to play into the double elimination bracket field.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Eastern Illinois played its third Big Ten team of the season on Wednesday and picked up a 4-3 win over Illinois.   It was the Panthers fourth all-time victory over the Fighting Illini and first since May 2, 2017.  Earlier this year EIU lost at home in extra innings to Washington and then lost on the road at Purdue. 
 
Abbey Crain had a pair of hits on Wednesday at Illinois as she increased her season batting average to .335.  It was the 13th time this season Crain has had two or more hits in a game.  She now has 52 hits this season which ranks sixth in the OVC and all 52 of those have been singles.  Crain's hitting streak now stands at ten straight games.
 
Karson Davey had her current hit streak end at five games on Wednesday as she went 0-for-3 at Illinois.   Last weekend she was 5-for-10 at the plate during the series with SIUE.  Davey picked up multiple hits in each game of Sunday's doubleheader with SIUE.  At Illinois she did draw a walk to extend her consecutive game streak of reaching base to six games. 
 
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.  Frederick kept it rolling on Wednesday as she drove home three of the four EIU runs in the 4-3 win over Illinois.   Frederick had a two-run double in the sixth and drove in a run in the ninth when EIU scored two to win in extra innings.
 
Kendall Grover had hits in each of the weekend games as she continues to keep her season average over .400 at a current .408 clip.  She has a current nine 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.  Grover was 1-for-3 at Illinois with two walks including an intentional walk issued to her in the ninth inning.  Grover is tied for the OVC lead with 26 walks drawn this year and an on-base percentage of .503 (the highest in the league.)
 
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.  Hance went 1-for-3 against Illinois.  Earlier this year she was 0-for-1 in a pinch-hitting opportunity against Washington and had one of two hits EIU had in its loss at Purdue.
 
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.  On Wednesday at Illinois, Hatton drew a walk and scored one of the four runs in the 4-3 win.
 
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.  In Wednesday's win over Illinois, she opened the game with five shutout innings in the circle and then came back in the ninth inning to close out the game and pick up her third save of the year.
 
Eastern Illinois honored the three seniors on its team last 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 .335 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.
 
STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games:  Kendall Grover (20), Abbey Crain (13),  Karson Davey (11), Briana Gonzalez (8)
Multiple RBI Games:  Kendall Grover (9), Abbi Hatton (7),  Briana Gonzalez (5),  Abbey Crain (5), Alisha Frederick (5)
Active Hitting Streaks:   Abbey Crain (10), Kendall Grover (9), 
Active Reached Base Streak:  Abbey Crain (11), Kendall Grover (10), Karson Davey (6)

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 Western Illinois to wrap up the 2025 regular season.   WIU holds a 33-26-1 all-time lead in the series which was renewed as a conference rivalry last season when Western Illinois joined the Ohio Valley Conference.  EIU swept last year's season series in Charleston.  The last time EIU played in Macomb was in April 2021 with the Panthers picking up a 5-2 non-conference win.

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois will play in the OVC Tournament next week in Peoria, Illinois with the event set for May 7-10. 

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.