Eastern Illinois University’s softball team will travel to Indiana State for a non-conference game on March 31, following a successful week that saw the Panthers extend their win streak to 15 games. The game is scheduled for Tuesday at Price Field in Terre Haute.
The current winning streak is the fourth longest active run in NCAA Division I softball, with only Florida State, Washington, and Southeastern Louisiana ahead. This streak is also the second longest in Eastern Illinois history, trailing only a 17-game run during the 2011 season.
Several players contributed to last week’s success. Senior pitcher Karlie McKenzie posted a 2-0 record with one save and an earned run average of just 0.50 over the week. She delivered complete game wins against Bradley and Western Illinois and secured her eighth career save, ranking second all-time at EIU. At the plate, senior Lizzie Stiverson currently holds a seven-game hitting streak and raised her season average to .320 after hitting .533 during five games last week.
Freshman Brooklyn Groppel made key contributions with a two-run pinch hit against Western Illinois and finished the weekend batting .500 with four runs batted in (RBI). Junior Alisha Frederick has reached base in twelve straight games and leads EIU with an on-base percentage of .411 while ranking third in walks drawn within the Ohio Valley Conference this year.
Other notable performances included Rylan Gick’s two pitching wins last week—bringing her total to eight for the season—and Bryanna French earning both a win and a save across recent appearances. As a team, EIU batted .310 over five games last week with multiple players recording strong offensive numbers.
The Panthers hold an all-time series lead of 37-28 over Indiana State after winning their meeting last year. After facing Indiana State, Eastern Illinois will host UT Martin for an Ohio Valley Conference series on April 3-4.
Head coaches Kristi Paulson and Dan Paulson are leading their second season at Eastern Illinois after guiding Parkland College to national recognition at the junior college level.
