2026 Eastern Illinois Softball  (36-21 / 23-3 OVC)

2026 NCAA Regional
Stillwater, Oklahoma - Cowgirl Stadium
EIU at #15 Oklahoma State - Friday, May 15 at 3:30 pm  ... Live Stats  |  ESPN+
Saturday, May 16 at TBA vs. #14 Stanford or Princeton

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois is headed to its second straight NCAA Softball Regional Tournament and third overall in program history as the Panthers won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.  EIU enters the weekend at 36-21 and will face host Oklahoma State on Friday at 3:30 pm.  The Cowgirls are ranked No. 15 in the final regular season Top 25 poll with a 38-15 record.   On Saturday they will face either Stanford or Princeton.  Stanford enters ranked No. 14 in the final regular season poll with a 37-13 record.  Princeton is 33-13 this season.  The last OVC team to win an NCAA Tournament game was Southeast Missouri in 2019 over Chattanooga. 

NCAA HISTORY: Eastern Illinois will play in its second straight NCAA Tournament as the Panthers travel to the Stillwater Regional.  EIU made its first appearance in 2023 losing at Northwestern and to Miami (Ohio).  Last season the Panthers played in the Austin Regional losing to eventual national champion Texas and Central Florida.   EIU has never faced Oklahoma State or Stanford.  The Panthers are 0-2 all-time against Princeton losing at neutral sites in 1998 (L 4-1) and 1992 (L 2-0).

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 canceled 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.  They were named the OVC co-Coaches of the Year this season (2026).

QUICK HITTER NOTES: 
• Karlie McKenzie won her second straight Ohio Valley Conference Tournament MVP honor pitching the Panthers to all three of their wins in this year's OVC Tournament.  McKenzie posted a 3-1 record in the OVC Tournament with a 2.10 ERA.  McKenzie became the fourth player to win back-to-back OVC Tournament MVP honors and the first since Whitney Gillespie (Jacksonville State) in 2016 & 2017.  McKenzie had 18 strikeouts with just three walks issued during the tournament moving her career strikeout total to 276.  She needs four strikeouts to crack EIU's career Top 10.  McKenzie has 28 career wins with eight career saves.

• Lizzie Stiverson was named the OVC Player of the Year for the regular season becoming the fourth overall EIU player to win the award and the third straight from the Panthers roster (Megan Burton, 2021 - Kendall Grover 2024 & 2025).  Stiverson finished the season hitting a team best .376 with ten doubles, four home runs, 42 runs scored and 29 RBI.  During OVC only player she crushed conference pitching with a .470 average, five doubles, four home runs, 19 RBI and 30 runs scored.  

• Abbi Hatton, Sophia Olman and Bryanna French joined Karlie McKenzie on the OVC All-Tournament Team.  Hatton hit .462 with one home run and five RBI.  She had hits in all four games and currently holds both the current active hitting streak (4 gms) and consecutive games on-base streak (13 gms) leads for the Panthers.  Olman hit .308 with a double and two RBI for the tournament.  French pitched 8.1 innings in the circle with one save.

• Sophia Olman was named a first team All-OVC selection at catcher this season.  Olman led the league in RBI for conference play only with 37 RBI driving in a total of 42 RBI for the season (9th most single season school history).  Olman hit .405 against OVC pitching finishing the overall season with a .303 average with nine home runs, 42 RBI and 35 runs scored.

• Alisha Frederick was a first team All-OVC selection in the outfield after starting at second base for the Panthers last season on the NCAA Tournament team.  Frederick had a team best 26-game consecutive game streak of reaching base snapped on May 1, the streak was seventh longest in the NCAA at the time.  She hit .312 for the year drawing a team-best 29 walks.

• Bryanna French was a first team All-OVC selection at the at-large position. She was the Panthers most used arm during the season appearing in 38 games with just eight starts.  French was 10-6 with six saves and a team-best 3.55 ERA.  The six saves tied the school single season record with Karlie McKenzie (2025) and Jessica Wireman (2018).

• EIU's additional All-OVC selections this season were pitcher Rylan Gick (2nd team / Newcomer Team) and Chloe Wamboldt (All-Newcomer Team).  Lizzie Stiverson also was named to All-Newcomer team in addition to first team and Player of the Year honors.  Gick was 12-4 on the season in the circle with a 3.94 ERA and 89 strikeouts.  Wamboldt hit .319 for the year and was the Panthers lead-off hitter most of the season moving to the nine hole spot in the order in the past month.  

• Eastern Illinois added to its home run total for the season during the OVC Tournament with Viola Smith (2), Abbi Hatton and Lexie Griffin all hitting home runs for the Panthers.  EIU has now hit 42 home runs for the year which ranks as the fourth most in school history.   The Panthers led the OVC in home runs during the regular season.  Lexie Griffin and Sophia Olman are both tied for the team lead with nine home runs.

• Eastern Illinois has put together one of its top offensive seasons in school history.  The Panthers have already set school records with 316 runs scored and 282 RBI.  The program currently has the second most walks in school history with 193 free passes and the .298 active team batting average is second in school history.  

• In addition to the Panthers stellar play at the plate, the defense this season has been solid with a .967 fielding percentage for the season which ranked first in the Ohio Valley Conference and sits in fourth on the Panthers single season list.  EIU's defense has turned a school record 24 double plays with first baseman Abbi Hatton (14) and third baseman Lizzie Stiverson (12) leading the charge.  Senior center fielder Marybeth Dyson has turned three double plays from the outfield.

• Eastern Illinois does bring some experience to Stillwater back from last year's NCAA Tournament team that played in Austin, Texas.  Abbi Hatton (1B) and Sophia Olman (C) both return in their same positions as starters in last year's regional.  Mo Hance and Alisha Frederick also return as starters but both are in different positions.  Hance was last year's DP and is now a starter in left field.  Frederick was last year's starter at second base and is now the right fielder.  Karlie McKenzie saw time in relief in both tournament games last season while Marybeth Dyson was a defensive replacement in both games.

STREAKS & LEADERS
Multiple Hit Games: Lizzie Stiverson (22),  Chloe Wamboldt (15),  Alisha Frederick (14),  Abbi Hatton (12)
Multiple RBI Games: Abbi Hatton (11), Lexie Griffin (11), Sophia Olman (10)
Active Hitting Streaks: Abbi Hatton (4), Adysen Rios (2) .... Longest of season (Mo Hance, 11)
Active Reached Base Streak:  Abbi Hatton (13), Emily Konkel (5) ....  Longest of season (Alisha Frederick, 26)