Eastern Illinois (2-3) Softball Upcoming Schedule

February 13-15 at Mardi Gras Mambo (Youngsville, La.)
Friday – Feb. 13 vs. Nicholls (2-2) at 2 pm …
Friday – Feb. 13 vs. Louisiana Tech (4-0) at 4 pm … 
Saturday – Feb. 14 vs. Sam Houston (3-2) at 3 pm … 
Saturday – Feb. 14 vs. Northwestern State (0-5) at 5 pm ... Live Stats
Sunday – Feb. 15 vs. #25 Southeastern Louisiana (4-2) at 10 am … Live Stats

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois heads to the Mardi Gras Mambo for the third time in the last five years as the Panthers play Friday to Sunday (Feb. 13-15) at the multi-team tournament in Youngsville, La.  EIU went 0-5 during its appearance in 2022 before posting a 5-0 record at the event in 2024.  The Panthers have games against five different schools opening play Friday against Nicholls and Louisiana Tech.  Saturday's afternoon contests will be against Sam Houston and Northwestern State.  On Sunday EIU wraps up play against No. 25 Southeastern Louisiana.  The Panthers enter with a 2-3 record after season opening action at the Georgia Southern Battle in the Boro.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Freshman Grace Lemke picked up the first win of the season in the circle for Eastern Illinois during her first collegiate start on Saturday against Georgia Southern.  Lemke pitched into the fifth finishing the day with 4.1 innings of work allowing two earned runs with two strikeouts.  Lemke was an IHSA Class 1A All-State performer at Altamont High School collecting her 1,000th high school strikeout in April of her senior season. 
 
Bryanna French was solid all weekend in the circle for the Panthers finishing the weekend with a 1-1 record and a 2.39 ERA.  French tossed a complete game in the win over UNC Greensboro on Saturday for the second win of the weekend for EIU.  French appeared in four total games pitching 14.2 innings with 14 strikeouts. 
 
Junior Hillary Springer appeared in five games as a freshman in 2024 followed by four appearances in games last season in 2025.  She had eight career at-bats with one walk during her freshman season.  Over the weekend Springer had a breakout at the plate picking up four hits for a .333 average for the weekend including a home run against Western Kentucky for her first collegiate hit on Friday.  She had a double in the second game of the year against Georgia Southern and drove in three runs during the weekend.
 
Lexi Griffin had one of four multi-hit games by EIU players during the opening weekend with a 2-for-3 game on Saturday afternoon against Georgia Southern.  One of Griffin's hits was a 3-run homer that helped carry the Panthers to their first win of the season, a 10-4 win over the Eagles.  Griffin had three total hits for the weekend with the other hit coming in the Friday game against Georgia Southern.  Abbi Hatton had two multi-hit games with Lizzie Stiverson picking up the other multi-hit game.
 
Mo Hance opened the 2026 season with a hit in each of the Panthers five games hitting .333 for the Batte in the Boro Tournament.  Hance scored one run in the first game against Georgia Southern.  Hance is followed this season by Alisha Frederick and Chloe Wamboldt that both have active hit streaks of three games with hits in both games Saturday and then in Sunday's tournament finale.
 
Abbi Hatton led the Panthers at the plate during the opening weekend as the sophomore first baseman hit .400 for the opening weekend.  Hatton had hits in the first four games including multi-hit games in both wins on Saturday.  She drove in two runs in both games with two RBI against Georgia Southern and two RBI against UNC Greensboro. 
 
Eastern Illinois was 7-for-7 in stolen bases during the opening weekend of action at the Battle in the Boro.  Junior college transfer Chloe Wamboldt is the Panthers early season leader going 4-for-4 in stolen base chances.  The other stolen bases came from Marybeth Dyson, Lizzie Stiverson and Emily Konkel.  Last season at the junior college level, Wamboldt was third in the JUCO ranks with 71 stolen bases. 
 
Eastern Illinois will face a nationally ranked team in the regular season for the first time since the 2022 season when the Panthers wrap up the Mardi Gras Mambo on Sunday against No. 25 Southeastern Louisiana.  EIU's last regular season game against a ranked opponent was Feb. 25, 2022, against No. 15 Louisiana at the Mardi Gras Mambo event.  The Panthers played No. 3 Texas in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and No. 15 Northwestern in the 2023 NCAA Tournament for their most recent games against ranked teams.  The last time EIU beat a ranked opponent was May 1, 2007, with a 6-2 in over No. 22 Illinois State.
 
STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games:   Abbi Hatton (2), Marybeth Dyson (2)
Multiple RBI Games:   Abbi Hatton (2), Lexi Griffin (1), Lizzie Stiverson (1)
Active Hitting Streaks:  Mo Hance (5), Alisha Frederick (3), Chloe Wamboldt (3)
Active Reached Base Streak:  Mo Hance (5), Alisha Frederick (4), Chloe Wamboldt (3)
 
SEASON LONG NOTES
Eastern Illinois was picked to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll after winning back-to-back OVC regular season titles in 2024 & 2025 while winning the OVC Tournament crown last season.   The Panthers received three first place votes in the preseason poll which was led by Southeast Missouri as the preseason favorite and SIUE in second. 
 
Karlie McKenzie was ranked No. 79 on the D1Softball.com preseason rankings for Mid-Major Players.  The senior pitcher made 38 appearances with 17 starts in the circle going 11-3 with a 2.79 ERA and an OVC leading six saves.  The six saves tied the EIU single season record and ranked seventh in the NCAA for the year.  In OVC action she was 6-0 with four saves and a 1.87 ERA.   In the OVC Tournament McKenzie was 2-0 with one save and tossed a complete game eight-inning shutout in the OVC Tournament championship game to earn OVC Tournament MVP honors. 
 
EIU returns a pair of first team All-OVC players from last season's roster in Karlie McKenzie and Mo Hance.  McKenzie was the OVC Tournament MVP as a pitcher and a first team All-OVC selection going 11-3 with a 2.79 ERA and six saves.  Hance hit .360 last year with three doubles and 16 RBI to earn first team at the designated player spot.
 
Abbi Hatton and Bryanna French were both named as OVC players to watch for the upcoming season.  Hatton was an All-OVC Newcomer team selection last year hitting .285 with seven doubles, four home runs and a team-best 38 RBI.  French made 19 appearances in the circle with a 3-4 record and 3.95 ERA including one save in OVC play.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois returns to the Mardi Gras Mambo in Younsgville, La., for the third time in the last five years.  Four of the teams in the field EIU faced during its 2022 tournament appearance with the fifth team (Sam Houston) having last faced EIU in the 1992 season.   EIU is 2-3 all-time against Nicholls, 2-4 all-time against Louisiana Tech, 0-4 all-time against Sam Houston, 1-3 all-time against Northwestern State and 1-3 all-time against Southeastern Louisiana.

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois will continue early season tournament play next week as they travel to Miami, Florida to play in the Florida International Tournament.  The Panthers will play scheduled games against host FIU, Incarnate Word and Florida A&M with two pool play games against those teams for the final two contests. 

HEAD COACHES: Eastern Illinois softball is 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 second season leading Eastern Illinois.  In their opening season at EIU they guided the Panthers to 34 wins including the OVC regular season and OVC Tournament titles.  EIU played in the NCAA Regional in Austin, Texas.  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. In 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.