Eastern Illinois (8-16, 3-0 OVC) Softball Upcoming Schedule
 
March 13-14 vs. Lindenwood (10-11, 2-1 OVC) … at Charleston, Ill. (Williams Field)
Friday – March 13 at 5 pm … Live Stats  |  ESPN+
Saturday – March 14 at 2 pm … Live Stats  |  ESPN+
Saturday – March 14 at 4:30 pm … Live Stats | ESPN+

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois plays its home opener after 24 straight away from Charleston to open the 2026 season.  The Panthers swept Morehead State last week to open Ohio Valley Conference play as EIU improved to 8-16 overall, 3-0 in the OVC.  Lindenwood enters the week at 10-11 overall, 2-1 in the OVC after taking two of three from UT Martin.  

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Eastern Illinois won back-to-back OVC regular season championships in 2024 and 2025.  This season the Panthers were selected to finish third in the league in the OVC preseason poll.  EIU faces the team selected just behind the Panthers this weekend as Lindenwood was picked to finish fourth.  Southeast Missouri was the preseason favorite with SIUE picked to finish second.
 
Chloe Wamboldt was lights out at the plate during the weekend series at Morehead State as the junior college transfer hit .818 over the three games with one double, one home run and five RBI.   Wamboldt had multiple hits in each of the three games giving her a season high eight games with multiple hits this season including five games with three hits.  She scored seven runs and added two stolen bases.  Wamboldt increased her season batting average to a team leading .355.   Wamboldt is third in the OVC in runs scored (17), hits (27) and stolen bases (10).
 
Pitcher Bryanna French factored into the decision in all three games of the weekend series for the Panthers at Morehead State.  French was 2-0 with one save pitching eight innings, all in relief.  She did not allow a run all weekend scattering three hits with six strikeouts.  She moved into tenth this season in the OVC in ERA at 4.80 while she ranks fourth in the OVC in strikeouts with 38. 
 
Lexie Griffin added to her season home run total with a shot in Monday's doubleheader win over Morehead State.  The senior catcher drove in five runs during the weekend with her fourth home run of the season one of her two series hits.  Griffin is currently second in the OVC in RBI with 18 and fourth in the OVC with four home runs. 
 
Eastern Illinois had five different players hit a home run in the weekend series at Morehead State including the first collegiate home run for Marybeth Dyson and Chloe Wamboldt.  Lexie Griffin hit her fourth home run of the season with Abbi Hatton hitting her second long ball of the year.   Lizzie Stiverson rounded out the EIU home run hitters with her first this season.  EIU has hit 12 home runs this year which ranks second in the OVC behind Lindenwood's 13 team home runs.   
 
Eastern Illinois won its sixth straight Ohio Valley Conference opener this past weekend when the Panthers beat Morehead State on Sunday afternoon.  The last time EIU lost a conference opener was in March 2019 against Murray State.  That also happens to be the last time EIU lost its home opener with the Racers beating the Panthers on March 23 of that season. 
 
The Panthers bats came alive during the weekend series at Morehead State as EIU hit .395 as a team for the three-game series.  Following Chloe Wamboldt's .818 average, three players (Sophia Olman, Hillary Springer and Adysen Rios) hit .500 at the plate during the weekend series.  Marybeth Dyson followed with a weekend .429 average while Mo Hance hit .400.  As a team EIU lifted its season batting average to .260 which is now fifth in the OVC.
 
Alisha Frederick helped carry the Panthers offense in the game one win at Morehead State with a pair of run scoring doubles as the junior hit .300 for the weekend.  Frederick has five multi-hit games this season and joins Chloe Wamboldt as the only Panthers with a three-hit game.  She is currently tied for second on the team with three doubles and fourth on the team with nine RBI.
 
Rylan Gick came in to pitch in the second game of Monday's doubleheader in relief and picked up her third win of the season.  Gick struck out four batters during the weekend as the transfer ranks fifth in the OVC this season with 32 strikeouts. 
 
STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games: Chloe Wamboldt (8), Lizzie Stiverson (6), Marybeth Dyson (5),  Alisha Frederick (5)
Multiple RBI Games: Lexie Griffin (5), Abbi Hatton (3),  Lizzie Stiverson (3)
Active Hitting Streaks: Chloe Wamboldt (3), Abbi Hatton (3), Mo Hance (3)
Active Reached Base Streak: Lexie Griffin (4), Chloe Wamboldt (3), Abbi Hatton (3), Mo Hance (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 and Lindenwood will be meeting for the tenth time this weekend in Charleston for OVC action.   EIU holds a slight 5-4 all-time lead in the series winning two of three at Lindenwood last season.  The Lions swept the season series in St. Charles in 2023 with EIU returning the favor and sweeping the series at Williams Field in 2024. 

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois returns to the road next week during the Panthers spring break on campus.  EIU will play a pair of midweek games at Murray State and Lipscomb before wrapping up the week with an OVC series at SIUE.

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.