Eastern Illinois (20-16) Softball Upcoming Schedule
 
March 31 at Indiana State (17-16) … at Terre Haute, Ind. (Price Field)
Tuesday – March 31 at 3 pm … Live Stats  |

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois extended its current win streak to 15 straight games as the Panthers went 5-0 during the week with a Wednesday doubleheader win over Bradley and then a weekend OVC series sweep over Western Illinois.  EIU is now 20-16 overall.  Indiana State enters at 17-16 overall.  The Sycamores won their weekend series at Valparaiso to improve to 17-16.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
Eastern Illinois extended its current win streak to 15 straight games with its weekend series win over Western Illinois.  The win streak is currently the fourth longest active win streak in NCAA Division I, trailing Florida State (21), Washington (20) and Southeastern Louisiana (16).  The win streak is the second longest in school history behind a 17 game win streak during the 2011 season.
 
Karlie McKenzie got back on track this week in the circle as the senior posted a 2-0 record with one save and a 0.50 ERA for the week.  McKenzie opened the week with a complete game win over Bradley allowing just one earned run.  During the series with Western Illinois, she posted a complete game shutout on Saturday and closed Sunday's game for her first save of the season.  It was the eighth save of McKenzie's career as she ranks second in career saves at EIU.
 
Lizzie Stiverson has warmed up at the plate over the past two weeks as the senior has the longest active hitting steak on the Panthers team at seven.  Stiverson had multiple hits in each of the weekend games against Western Illinois hitting .533 during the five games raising her season average to .320 which is currently second best on the roster.
 
Freshman Brooklyn Groppel stepped up big over the weekend for the Panthers as she delivered a key two-run pinch hit to help EIU win the first game of the weekend series with Western Illinois.  Groppel finished the weekend hitting .500 with four RBI.  On the season Groppel is hitting .290 having made seven starts in 24 total appearances.
 
Alisha Frederick has now reached base in 12 straight games as the junior has seen her season average climb to .298.  Her on-base average is even higher at .411 which leads the Panthers.  Frederick is currently third in the OVC in walks drawn this year with 19 free passes. 
 
Rylan Gick added two wins to her season total last week as she came in as a relief pitcher in the midweek win over Bradley before a complete game win over Western Illinois.  The two wins moved Gick's season win total to eight wins which leads the OVC.  Gick has now picked up five wins, and one save in her last six appearances in the circle. 
 
Bryanna French picked up a win and a save for the Panthers last week as she came in to close the win over Bradley in the midweek before a complete game win on Sunday over Western Illinois.  French has three wins and a save in her last four appearances in the circle for EIU. 
 
EIU hit over .300 for the second straight week of games as the Panthers batted .310 as a team for the five games against Bradley and Western Illinois.  As a team EIU averaged just over five runs per game with four players – Lizzie Stiverson, Adysen Rios, Alisha Frederick and Mo Hance – all hitting .400 or better for the week.  Four players tied for the team lead with four RBI for the week as Maddux Marshall, Brooklyn Groppel, Marybeth Dyson and Sophia Olman all drove in four runs.
 
STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games: Chloe Wamboldt (11), Lizzie Stiverson (11), Alisha Frederick (8),  Marybeth Dyson (7),  Abbi Hatton (6)
Multiple RBI Games: Lexie Griffin (6), Abbi Hatton (6), Alisha Frederick (5)
Active Hitting Streaks: Lizzie Stiverson (7)
Active Reached Base Streak:  Alisha Frederick (12), Lizzie Stiverson (7)
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois will face regional foe Indiana State on Tuesday for a non-conference contest as the Panthers travel to Terre Haute.  EIU holds a 37-28 all-time series lead winning the single game meeting last year in Charleston.

ON DECK:  Eastern Illinois will host UT Martin this weekend for an Ohio Valley Conference series on Friday & 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.