The Eastern softball team swept the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in a tightly contested conference series. Eastern improved its overall record to 22-17. The Panthers have now won seven straight conference games and are 12-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference after starting the season with a 5-6 conference record. 

O’Dell continues hot hitting

In last weekend’s series, freshman shortstop Bailey O’Dell was the top Panther hitter. She went five-for-eight at the plate with three runs scored and an RBI. Three of her five hits came in the form of doubles. With her great play this weekend, O’Dell was able to raise her batting average to .390, which leads the team. She also leads the team with 20 RBIs, 26 runs scored and 15 doubles.

Catcher Abby Wood and third baseman Ashleigh Westover also had big weekends at the plate for the Panthers. Wood went two-for-five with two runs scored and a go-ahead RBI. Westover was also two-for-five with two RBIs and a run scored.

Melise Brown and Kaylie Pruett rounded out the offensive attack for Eastern this weekend with batting averages of .333.  They both had an RBI and a run scored. Brown was three-for-three on stolen base attempts. For the season, she is 13-16 on stolen base attempts, which is by far the team high.

Maday, Mennenga make moves on mound

Eastern also had great pitching performances from the sophomore duo of Stephanie Maday and Hanna Mennenga. Maday picked up a win in the first contest. For the weekend, she pitched 8.1 innings while only allowing two runs on six hits and two walks. She also struck out eight Eagles en route to the victory. He record on the mound improved to 12-9.

Mennenga pitched 5.2 innings while only allowing one run on two hits and three walks. Mennenga is now 10-5 on the mound after her strong performance.

Tennessee-Martin leads OVC, Panthers third

After sweeping Tennessee Tech in its two game series, Eastern moved up to third place in the OVC standings with its 12-6 conference record.  Sitting pretty in first place is  Tennessee-Martin, who improved its overall record to 30-13 and its conference record to 18-3. Eastern still has a three game series against Tennessee-Martin later in the season, so it will have a chance to move up the standings. Jacksonville State is currently in second place in the OVC standing with a 17-7 conference record. 

Eastern’s next game will be this Wednesday at Williams Field when they take on Southeast Missouri in the series finale, with the first pitch scheduled for a 5 p.m. start. 

Erik Jensen can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected].