Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
A big day at the plate by
Abbi Hatton helped carry Eastern Illinois softball into Saturday's Ohio Valley Conference Championship game with an 8-0 win over SIUE on Friday at Louisville Slugger Complex in Peoria, Ill.
EIU improved to 35-20 overall while SIUE fell to 29-28.
Hatton started the EIU scoring with an RBI single in the first. After back-to-back RBI singles in the third inning by
Alisha Frederick and
Sophia Olman, Hatton struck again with a three-run homer to center. Hatton was 2-for-3 with the four RBI.
Karlie McKenzie (12-8) and
Bryanna French combined to scatter five SIUE hits during the shutout win. McKenzie pitched 4.1 innings before French closed the final 2.2 innings.
Kaylin Fahy was the lone Cougar with two hits. Avery Arwood (14-7) suffered the loss.
Viola Smith added two insurance runs in the seventh for the Panthers with her second home run of the tournament. Frederick, Olman and
Lizzie Stiverson all finished with two hits for EIU.
The Panthers will now play in Saturday's OVC Championship game at 11 am.
