Eastern Illinois softball sophomore catcher Sophia Olman had a two run RBI double in the sixth inning to help the Panthers defeat University of Southern Indiana 4-1, advancing in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament on Thursday at Peoria.
Olman was able to extend the lead with her double as she brought in outfielders freshman Morgan Hance and sophomore Karson Davey.
“You know, I got behind in the count early, and once I got two strikes, I was just thinking, ‘hit something hard, get it to the outfield, and a run’s going to score no matter what’,” Olman said. “It was just an insurance thing. Every run in this tournament counts because the field is so tough.”
Before that, in the top of the fifth inning, USI was only down by one run. The Screaming Eagles had sophomore infielder Sydney Long on third base.
Olman was not able to hold onto a pitch as she was having trouble all game, and Long tried stealing home.
“The pitches were just moving like crazy,” Olman said. “The wind’s not helping either, but the turf is even hotter than it is outside. Their pitches are moving. So, I did what I could.”
Olman was able to get the ball and flip it over to junior pitcher Karlie McKenzie who ran over to the plate right in time. Long was called safe, but after a review, she was called out.
“There was a clutch play at the plate with Karlie coming to cover,” Olman said. “She saved me on that one.”
That was one of two successful challenge calls by Eastern. Panthers co-head coach Kristi Paulson said the challenges were huge game changers.
“Yeah, it’s a momentum getter for us,” Paulson said. “And that was a big play for us to shut them down and come back in and keep at it at the plate.”
USI got on the board first in the third inning with a single down the right field line by senior infielder Whitley Hunter.
Eastern was able to answer right back in the bottom of the third with a two run RBI double by sophomore infielder Alisha Frederick.
“Well, I knew she had been throwing a lot of changeups, and I actually whiffed one beforehand, so I knew that she was probably going to throw me it again,” Frederick said. “So, then I was just thinking, like, sit back and just try to find a gap out there, and it just happened to go to one.”
This is also Frederick’s first OVC tournament as she transferred in from Parkland College.
“I was really excited,” Frederick said. “We were all really excited to come here and get our first game. And it’s just so exciting to be with everyone and just have this experience with them.”
Eastern sophomore pitcher and OVC pitcher of the year McKenzie Oslanzi was able to pick up her 20th win of the season as she pitched four innings, only allowing one run. Oslanzi did have trouble with walking batters. She gave up five walks while no other pitcher gave up any.
“Well sometimes you just don’t get the calls that you want, and you just have to deal with the adversity, and I think I did well with that,” Oslanzi said. “Only letting up one run with those five walks is really impressive for me and I’m really proud of myself for that.”
Number one seed Eastern advances to the winner bracket finals tomorrow against the two seed Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
In the regular season, Eastern lost its only conference series to SIUE.
“We learned something from both of those games when we played them a couple weeks ago,” Paulson said. “So, we just got to show up and play our game and make the adjustments we need to make, and we’ll be just fine.”
Eastern plays SIUE to continue the OVC tournament at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday May 9 at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria.
Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
