Eastern Illinois (13-9) Upcoming Softball Schedule
March 15-18
March 15th at Lipscomb (8-12) – 2:30 p.m. … Live Stats
March 17 in East Tennessee (4-16) – 5 p.m. Live Stats
March 18th in East Tennessee – 11 a.m. Live Stats
March 18th in East Tennessee – 1:30 p.m. Live Stats
ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois will stay in the Volunteer State for Spring Break travel after opening with a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series sweep at UT Martin. EIU extended its current winning streak to seven games as they improved to 13-9 overall. The Panthers will play Wednesday’s game midweek at Lipscomb before traveling for a three-game series in East Tennessee on Friday and Saturday.
QUICK HITTER NOTES:
Alexa Rehmeier continued to be solid in circles for the Panthers last week as he picked up two wins as part of the Panthers’ 4-0 run last week. Last Monday (March 6) he helped EIU complete the Bellarmine Tournament title with a full game closing performance against Valparaiso. Last Saturday he helped pitch EIU to a weekend sweep of UT Martin with an 8-inning complete game win over the Skyhawks. Over the week Rehmeier worked 14 innings with a 1.00 ERA. In that season he tied for leading the team with four wins and two complete games. He has a team-high 3.21 ERA and 40 strikeouts.
Eastern Illinois was solid in the loop all weekend during the Panthers’ sweep of UT Martin. As staff EIU posted a team ERA of 1.05 for the weekend as they only allowed three earned rounds in a series spanning 20 innings. EIU has a complete game effort from Olivia’s Price (W, 5-1), Rachel Kaufman (W, 10-0 in 5 innings) and Alexa Rehmeier (W, 5-2 in 8 innings). EIU limited UT Martin to just 13 hits and a team batting average of . 181 with 16 hits. In the season EIU now has a team ERA of 3.67 with five complete games and four shutouts.
Lindy Milkowski hit his ninth home run of the season and 18th of his EIU career during the Panthers weekend series at UT Martin. Nine home runs equaled his season total from last year which finished seventh on the EIU single season list. Milkowski needed one home run to move up to ninth on the EIU career home run list with 19. Milkowski currently leads OVC in home runs (9) and RBI (25) while ranking second in the league in runs scored. Last season he earned first-team All-OVC honors as a catcher. This season he has split time behind the plate and at first base.
Jaylen Prichard his hitting streak snapped at eight games over the weekend but was still able to hit base in all three contests. He continued to lead the Panthers with 19 straight games after hitting base, one of only two Panthers with double-digit active hitting. Rachel Kaufman currently tied for second with 15 straight games. Prichard leads the Panthers in batting average of . 368 this season, a fifth-ranked average in the OVC entering the week. He has three doubles, one triple and one home run.
Briana Gonzales 429 as he had four hits in four games, all for extra bases. Gonzalez had two doubles and two home runs over four games. 283 with three doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI this season. In four games he added a sacrifice bunt, sacrifice fly and walk in addition to hitting hit after throw three times. He has currently been hit six times this year.
Kendall Grover cruised in five rounds during the weekend series at UT Martin. Grover hit a double and a home run while also going 1-for-1 in a stolen base attempt. 311 this season with five doubles and four home runs. In bases track he is tied for leading EIU in stolen bases with seven without being caught steals this season. Morgan Lewis also had seven stolen bases in eight tries. The two Panthers are currently tied for the OVC lead in stolen bases.
Eastern Illinois continues to reign supreme with their season totals for doubles and home runs increasing last weekend against UT Martin. EIU leads OVC with 26 home runs hitting four last weekend. That number ranks 25th in the NCAA this season. EIU is second in the OVC with 34 doubles this season which ranks 44th in the NCAA. Last season EIU set a school record with 82 doubles after setting the school record for home runs during the 2021 season with 56. EIU has five players with two or more home runs this season and ten players with two or more doubles this season.
Eastern Illinois has now won its three consecutive Ohio Valley Conference season-opening series after sweeping UT Martin last weekend. It marked EIU’s third straight season sweeping the OVC series opener after sweeping Morehead State in 2021 and 2022. The Panthers did not play any OVC games in 2020 due to the season being canceled due to COVID-19 prior to the start of OVC action.
STREAKS & LEADERS
Some Hit Games: Jaylen Prichard (10), Lindy Milkowski (6), Kendall Grover (5)
Some RBI Games: Lindy Milkowski (7), Jaylen Prichard (3), Rachel Kaufman (3), Kendall Grover (3), Brianna Gonzales (3)
Active Hitting Streak: Amber Cieplinski (5)
Active Achievement Base Streaks: Jaylen Prichard (19), Rachel Kaufman (15), Lindy Milkowski (7), Amber Cieplinski (6)
SEASON LONG NOTES
Olivia’s Price threw only the eighth no-hitter in program history with his victory over Alabama State on February 17. Price faced a minimum of 21 batters with the lone runner ASU clinching by walking and dropping out the following play. The last no-hitter was thrown last season by his current teammate Tieghan Morio during the 4-0 win over Alabama A&M. Other EIU no-hitters have been pitched by Jessica Wireman, Coli Turley (2), Stephanie Maday (2) and Hanna Mennega.
Olivia’s Price And Lindy Milkowski was named Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week (Feb. 20) following the Panthers’ 5-0 showing at the Mardi Gras Classic. Price threw a no-hitter and went 10 innings in hoops with a 1.35 ERA. He added 11 strikeouts. 462 during that tournament with four home runs and eight RBIs. He had 17 total plate appearances drawing three walks without being hit.
Lindy Milkowski was named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season after his weekend appearance in the Bellarmine Tournament (March 6). 500 with three doubles, three home runs and ten RBI. He has a 1,250 slugging percentage for the weekend. EIU closed out the tournament with Monday morning’s run-rule win over Valparaiso where Milkowski added one stroke to finish the weekend hitting .474.
senior Morgan Lewis was named the EIU Player to Watch for the upcoming OVC season in the preseason poll. Lewis had battled injuries for some part of the previous two seasons but was an All-OVC Newcomer selection in 2021 leading OVC in a stolen base. This season Lewis has appeared in 17 games hitting . 241 to 7-for-8 in stolen base attempts. EIU is returning a first-team All-OVC player Lindy Milkowski and a member of the All-OVC Newcomers team Alexa Rehmeier from last year’s team.
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois will open its Spring Break journey Wednesday against Lipscomb for the seventh time. The Bison hold a 5-1 all-time lead in the series. On Friday EIU will face ETSU for the third time in program history. East Tennessee holds an all-time 2-0 lead in the series, the last meeting being in 2010.
FURTHERMORE: Eastern Illinois will come home and play at Williams Field for the first time this season hosting UIC on Wednesday before they take on SIUE for the weekend series on Saturday and Sunday in Charleston.
HEAD TRAINER: Tara Archibald is in her fourth season as a head coach at Eastern Illinois. In his first season, Archibald led EIU to an 11-10 record to open the season before COVID-10 shortened the season for all collegiate teams. The Panthers missed Ohio Valley Conference play during the 2020 season. In 2021 he posted his second straight winning streak as EIU finished with an overall score of 25-19, 16-14 at the OVC. Last season EIU was 25-30 overall, 10-17. The Panthers qualifying for the OVC Tournament marked their first appearance since the 2018 season. Archibald has a 74-68 career record with a 29-31 OVC record. Archibald is a 2004 graduate of Southern Illinois where he played softball for the Salukis helping the team make the 2003 NCAA Tournament. He comes from a softball family with his father, Gerry Glasco, head coach in Louisiana. He stopped coaching in high school and college. He was assisted by Rachel Huggins and Toby Ring.
