Eastern Illinois (15-16, 9-0 OVC) Softball Upcoming Schedule
 
March 25 vs. Bradley (7-22) … at Charleston, Ill. (Williams Field)
Wednesday – March 25 at 4 pm … Live Stats  |  ESPN+
Wednesday – March 25 at 6:30 pm … Live Stats  | ESPN+
 
March 28-29 vs. Western Illinois (8-17, 3-5 OVC) … at Charleston, Ill. (Williams Field)
Saturday – March 28 at 12 pm … Live Stats | ESPN+
Saturday – March 28 at 2:30 pm … Live Stats | ESPN+
Sunday – March 29 at 12 pm … Live Stats  |  Watch


ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois extended its current win streak to ten games last week with a midweek win at Lipscomb before a series sweep at SIUE.  The wins improved EIU to 15-16 on the season, 9-0 in the OVC.   The Panthers will return home for five games at Williams Field this week.  EIU hosts Bradley for a doubleheader on Wednesday before a weekend series with Western Illinois.   Bradley enters at 7-22 overall.   WIU comes to Charleston with an 8-17 record, 3-5 in the OVC.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Sophia Olman was big at the plate last week as her performance over the four games on Spring Break earned the junior catcher OVC Player of the Week honors this week.  Olman hit .545 for the week with ten RBI. She had a slugging percentage of 1.000 with two doubles and a home run.  The home run was her second of the year and a grand slam.  Olman added an on-base percentage of .688 for the week drawing four walks with one hit-by-pitch plate appearance.  She was solid behind the plate with a perfect fielding percentage with 25 total putouts.  Olman enters this week with a five-game active hitting streak.
 
Eastern Illinois is one of nine teams with a current win streak of at least ten games as the Panthers enter the week with the nation's ninth longest active win streak.  EIU has gone 9-0 in OVC play with a non-conference win at Lipscomb squeezed in last week.  The Panthers are joined on the list by defending national champion Texas, Nebraska, UCLA, Oklahoma, Florida State, Washington, Southeastern Louisiana and Boston University.  Texas has the nation's longest active win streak at 26 games.
 
Eastern Illinois 9-0 start to the OVC season is tied for the second best start to OVC play in school history.  The Panthers last opened an OVC season with a 9-0 record just three years ago during the 2023 season before suffering a loss in their tenth conference game of the year against Southern Indiana.  EIU also opened the 2011 season with a 9-0 record in OVC play before losing to Tennessee Tech.  The record for OVC wins to open the season is 10-0 by the Panthers 2000 squad before having that win streak snapped by Morehead State. 
 
Rylan Gick shouldered most of the load in the circle over the weekend series as the transfer pitcher factored into the decision in all three wins at SIUE. Gick tossed two complete game wins and then picked up the save in the Panthers other weekend win.  Gick was 2-0 with a 3.87 ERA for the week.  On the season Gick leads the OVC in innings pitched and has moved into a tie for second in the league in wins with teammate Bryanna French (both have six wins).  Gick has moved to second in the league in strikeouts while French is fifth in the league.  As a team EIU's pitching staff ranks third in strikeouts and second in opposing batting average.
 
Abbi Hatton extended her current consecutive game streak of reaching base to ten games over the weekend as the sophomore hit .571 during the Panthers spring break trip.  Hatton had one double and drove in seven runs for the week as she now ranks eighth in the OVC in RBI.  Hatton also ranks second on the team in walks drawn with 12 this season.  She has an active hitting streak of five games.
 
Alisha Frederick had hits in each game of the weekend series as she hit .500 in the three game sweep over SIUE.  Frederick drew six walks during the series and leads the Panthers with 16 walks this season, a total that is fourth in the OVC this season.  She has the third highest on-base percentage on the team at .393. 
 
Junior college transfer Chloe Wamboldt has had one of the hottest bats in the Panthers line-up over the current ten game win streak.  Wamboldt is hitting .462 over those ten games and leads the Panthers with ten multi-hit games this season.  She is currently second in the OVC in runs scored, third in hits and fourth in stolen bases.  She is 4-for-4 in stolen bases during the current team win streak. 
 
Senior transfer Lexie Griffin continues to provide power numbers at the plate as Griffin hit her sixth home run of the season during last week's spring break trip.  Griffin currently ranks second in the OVC in home runs and third in the league in RBI. 
 
As a team Eastern Illinois has been lights out at the plate during its current ten game win streak with a team batting average of .344 with an average of nine runs scored per game.  EIU has hit 14 doubles, three triples and ten home runs over those ten games for a team .516 slugging percentage.  Chloe Wamboldt and Sophia Olman have both hit over .400 during the win streak with eight other players hitting over .300.  As a pitching staff, Bryanna French and Rylan Gick have both gone 4-0 in the circle with Karlie McKenzie picking up the other two wins. 
 
 Eastern Illinois added to its OVC leading home run total hitting three home runs last week during its spring break trip.  Viola Smith hit her first career home run on Wednesday at Lipscomb followed by home runs by Lexie Griffin and Sophia Olman over the weekend.  As a team EIU has now hit 18 home runs. 
 
STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games: Chloe Wamboldt (10), Lizzie Stiverson (8), Marybeth Dyson (7),  Alisha Frederick (6), Abbi Hatton (6)
Multiple RBI Games: Lexie Griffin (6), Abbi Hatton (6), Lizzie Stiverson (4),  Alisha Frederick (4)
Active Hitting Streaks: Sophia Olman (5), Abbi Hatton (5), Alisha Frederick (3) 
Active Reached Base Streak:  Abbi Hatton (10), Alisha Frederick (7), Sophia Olman (5)
 
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 will face a pair of in-state rivals this week as EIU hosts Bradley for a non-conference series on Wednesday before a weekend Ohio Valley Conference series against Western Illinois during the weekend.  Bradley leads the all-time series with EIU 22-16-1 with the two teams splitting a pair of games last year played at the FIU Panther Invitational in Florida.  The last time the Braves played in Charleston was April 2006.    Western Illinois holds a 33-29-1 all-time lead in its series with the Panthers.  EIU has swept the two series against WIU as OVC members the last two seasons and won the last non-conference meeting between the schools in 2021.  EIU has now won nine straight games over the Leathernecks dating back to 2014.

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois remains in the area next week as they play a non-conference game on Tuesday at Indiana State before hosting UT Martin on Friday and Saturday, April 3-4.

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.