Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)

Abbi Hatton laced a three-run home run to straight away center in the bottom of the third inning to help carry Eastern Illinois softball to a 6-3 win over UIC on Wednesday night at Williams Field.
 
It was the Panthers first win over the Flames since the 1997 season as EIU won its sixth straight game improving to 27-20 on the season.  UIC dropped to 19-27-1.
 
Trailing 3-2 entering the third Lizzie Stiverson and Alisha Frederick both singled to open the inning.  After Flames starter Jasmin Whorley (14-13) picked up two outs from the next two batters, Hatton put the Panthers in front with her fifth home run of the season giving EIU a 5-3 lead.  Hatton finished 2-for-3 at the plate.
 
The Panthers added an insurance run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Stiverson as the senior went 3-for-3 at the plate. 
 
Alisha Frederick had two hits extending her streak of consecutive games reaching base to 23 straight.  Her RBI triple in the first scored Stiverson before she came home to score on a Mo Hance ground out.
 
UIC scored twice in the first inning with a two-run double by Sam Tourtillott.  The Flames tacked on another run in the third with an RBI single by Siena Stickney to center field.  Stickney extended her consecutive game hitting streak to 20 games, second longest currently in the NCAA.  She and Cameran Rios both had two hits.
 
Karlie McKenzie entered in the second inning in relief and tossed four innings for the win improving to 8-8.  Bryanna French had a scoreless two innings to close out the game for her fourth save.