The stands were packed at Williams field for Eastern softball on Wednesday night.
Youth teams from the local area including the T-Town Twisters and the Illini Heat were in the stands cheering on EIU for its youth night.
Sophomore utility player Abbi Hatton said that it was so much fun with all of the kids at the game.
“Just a great reminder that it’s so much bigger than a game,” Hatton said.
The kids were able to have softballs and posters signed by the Panthers after their 6-3 win over the University of Illinois Chicago.
This marked the first time EIU has beaten UIC since 1997. Eastern was 2-14 against UIC all time before this win.
The first inning started off hot, as UIC took an early 2-0 lead before a throw from senior outfielder Marybeth Dyson to junior catcher Sophia Olman caught a runner at home to keep the scoring limited to two runs.
Eastern immediately answered back, starting with an RBI triple from junior outfielder Alisha Frederick. That triple extended her on base streak to 23 games which was 12th in the nation heading into the week.
Head coach Kristi Paulson said that they don’tlike talking about streaks like that because it’s all about the team.
“I mean, that’s what I love about this team. They don’t think about the stats, they don’t talk about the stats because it’s not about me or, you,” Paulson said. “It’s about we.”
UIC only scored one more in the next inning before being held to three runs by senior pitcher Karlie McKenzie (8-8), who picked up the win.
She only let the one run from the second inning cross home and finished the game with four strikeouts.
“They were obviously good hitters,” McKenzie said. “And the first inning was a little shaky, but then I just trusted my stuff and trusted that my defense was going to have my back.”
Eastern took the lead for good in the third inning after Hatton hit a three-run home run to put EIU ahead 5-3.
Hatton said that after her first at-bat was full of change ups, she was just looking for a fastball and got one on her first pitch of the at-bat.
The change-up by UIC sophomore pitcher Jasmine Whorley was getting a lot of the Eastern batters to chase. Paulson said that the hitters were too aggressive and would chase at the off-speed pitches which hurt the team.
Hatton and Frederick both hit the ball in the first pitch of their respective at-bats, so they did not have to see the changeup at all.
Other than the game, there was a family reunion between sisters. Eastern freshman utility player Adysen Rios and UIC junior third baseman Cameran Rios played against each other for the first time in at least three years.
After the game Adysen Rios got teary eyed talking about the opportunity.
“I haven’t seen her in a long time and it was just a cool experience,” Adysen Rios said. “I’m really thankful that both the coaches gave us the opportunity.”
Eastern returns to Ohio Valley Conference action this weekend against Southern Indiana. There’s a chance that the Panthers could clinch the OVC regular season title this weekend. EIU is in first place by two games over UT Martin. Eastern must win all three games and have UT Martin lose at least one of its games against Tennessee Tech for EIU to be regular season champions.
However, the players and Paulson both said they are just taking each game one pitch at a time.
The weekend series starts Saturday at 12 p.m. in Evansville.
Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
