The Panther softball team split a pair of games Tuesday at Williams Field. In the first game, they defeated Butler 2-1 in an extra-inning thriller. In the second game, Butler responded with a 1-0 victory.

The Panther’s strength on the field continued to be their outstanding pitching. The sophomore pitching staff combo consisting of Stephanie Maday and Hanna Mennenga went a combined 16 innings without allowing an earned run.

Maday went nine innings while only allowing three hits and striking out a career-high 15 Butler hitters. She lowered her overall ERA to 2.09 while improving her record to 9-6 for the year.

Mennenga was also very effective on the mound. She threw seven innings while only allowing four hits and striking out six Butler hitters. She also showed off her impeccable control by walking no one. She also lowered her ERA, which now sits at 3.18 for the season.

Unfortunately for the team, Eastern continued to struggle at the plate. For the day, the team combined for a total of 10 hits in 54 at bats. Junior Ally Seplak led Eastern for the day with two hits in six at bats. Sophomore CarlyWillert was the only other player with at least two hits.

The Panthers also struggled to see the ball at the plate, striking out 27 times in 54 plate appearances, or half the time they came up to bat.

Freshman Hannah Cole was the only Panther with any RBIs. Her pinch-hit game-winning single drove in two to lead Eastern to victory in game one of the doubleheader.

The Panthers next game will be the series finale against in-state and OVC-foe SIU-Edwardsville at 4 p.m., in Edwardsville on Thursday.

Eastern and SIU-E split the first two games of the series on March 21 at Williams Field, losing the first game 0-4, but winning the second game 4-1.

It is likely that Eastern will start Maday on the mound. In her last start against SIU-E, Maday went nine innings while only allowing five hits and striking out 6 hitters. She allowed four runs, though only two of them were earned, all coming in the ninth inning.

SIU-E will most likely pitch Amanda Lambrecht, who was very effective in her last start against Eastern. She went nine innings while allowing no runs to score in the victory.

Eastern’s record is now 13-13 overall with a 3-4 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference, which puts them in seventh place in the conference standings. Tennesse-Martin and Jacksonville State have proved to be the top teams in OVC play so far. Tennessee-Martin has an overall record of 19-11, but a great 9-2 conference record. Jacksonville State has also been great in conference play, and is tied with Tennessee-Martin with a 9-2 conference record.