Kendall Grover did not get a pitch in the zone all day.
In the bottom of the eighth inning of the winner-take-all Ohio Valley Conference championship game, the first OVC title game ever to go into extra innings, the junior infielder for the Eastern softball team (34-20, 21-5) got a pitch to hit.
The ball went flying to center field where there was no one, and Grover got to second base standing up.
Grover was able to get over to third base after a sacrifice bunt by sophomore infielder Alisha Frederick. Grover then did exactly what her coach told her to do.
“What’s funny, it was right before that pitch, [Dan Paulson] told me, if it’s in the ground, you’re going,” Grover said. “And so as soon as I saw it ricochet off, I was like, I’m going, 100%.”
Grover scored on the wild pitch and gave Eastern the walk-off win against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville 1-0 on Saturday at Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria.
Eastern had to play two games against SIUE (32-22, 19-6) as the first game started at 11 a.m. and SIUE won 4-3. Thirty minutes later the Panthers and Cougars began the decisive championship game.
“We just tried to stay calm, and know that we could do it,” head coach Kristi Paulson said. “There was never a doubt, never a doubt that they were going to show up and compete until the last pitch, and that’s what they did.”
For most of the second game, pitchers and defense ruled supreme. Eastern only had three hits compared to SIUE’s five.
“I knew if we just kept hitting it hard, one would fall or we’d get an opportunity to score,” Paulson said. “And that’s just what we had to do is just play an eight inning game and find a way to get runs in.”
Junior pitcher Karlie McKenzie pitched eight shutout innings, striking out seven on 121 total pitches. She was named the OVC tournament most valuable player.
“Just trusting my stuff and my defense had my back like all day,” McKenzie said. “So, I was just relying on them and relying on my teammates, and I knew they would get it done.”
In the first game, SIUE was able to score four runs in the fifth inning to take the lead for good. Eastern came within one run in the top of the seventh but left the bases loaded.
The Panthers and Cougars have faced each other six times this year with each team taking three wins. In each of the Panthers’ three wins, they won in walk-off fashion after going into extra innings.
This marks the second time in three years the Panthers have won the OVC tournament, after winning it in 2023. Eastern has three seniors that were on the team in 2023 that now have won the conference tournament twice.
Senior infielder Briana Gonzalez has had a long season with losing her dad just a couple of weeks ago. But she isn’t worrying about the sadness; instead looking forward to the next step of the journey.
“There’s so much excitement, but obviously so much sadness too because I lost my dad, but I know he’s cheering us on from heaven,” Gonazlez said. “And he actually came and watched the Northwestern Regional so now my mom’s going to be able to come and watch this regional, so everything is just working out.”
This also marks an OVC championship for the Paulsons in their first season.
Eastern will continue its season after receiving an auto bid to the NCAA tournament.
“We’re just going to have fun, keep doing our thing, one pitch at a time, one inning at a time,” Grover said.
Eastern will start its journey in the regionals next weekend. The selection showcase for who Eastern is playing and when will be aired tomorrow night at 6 p.m.
Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at pfschmitz@eiu.edu.
