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CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Fresh off winning the squad's fourth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference series last weekend, the Eastern Illinois softball squad will host instate foes Southern Illinois (19-12) and SIU Edwardsville (15-20/7-6) in mid-week single games this Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

A 4 pm first pitch is scheduled for both games at EIU's Glenn & Joan Williams Field.

EIU BULLPEN STILL THE BEST IN THE NATION ...
For the second straight week, the Panther pitching unit continued to hold onto the top spot in the entire national for team ERA.

Currently, the Panther bullpen is a combined 1.14, which moved just slightly from last week's 0.99 first place mark.

Last week, EIU moved ahead of SEC power and former ERA leader Florida, to owning the best top mark out of 300 teams in the rankings.

Individually, freshman Stephanie Maday ranks No. 5 in the nation for individual ERA of 0.82.

Meanwhile, reigning 'OVC Pitcher of the Week, senior Amber May moved to a 28th rank at 1.28 on the year.

Naturally both Maday and May continue to lead the entire OVC field of pitchers for both the regular-season and OVC-only games as well.

SCHUETTE EARNS 175 CAREER WINS ...
The 6-4 weekend series victory at TTU this past Sunday helped head coach Kim Schuette notch her 175th career win.

In seven total seasons as a head coach, including one year at Division II Quincy, Schuette is now 175-173-1 all-time.

Meanwhile, she owns a six-year, 151-145-1 NCAA Division I mark as skipper of the Panthers, as she earned her 150th victory in dramatic fashion as EIU outlasted TTU in a 14-inning, 3-1, thriller last Saturday. That nearly four-hour contest is now the longest softball game in Panther history.

THE WEATHER AHEAD ...
According to Weather.com, the Charleston weather scenario looks pretty good for Wednesday and Thursday.

Morning showers are on tap for Wednesday prior to EIU hosting SIU, but things are expected to clear off soon afterward for a high of 64-degrees at game time, yet high winds are expected.

On Thursday versus SIUE, meanwhile, afternoon thunderstorms are in the mix with highs again in the upper 60s and a 50% chance of rain.

QUICK LOOK AT SIU ...
The Salukis will come to Charleston sporting a 19-12 overall mark, and a 4-2 record in Missouri Valley Conference action.

The squad is led by Mallory Duran's .381 batting average, off 45 total bases, 37 hits, 11 RBI, and five extra-base hits. She is also a perfect 8-for-8 in stolen bases.

Morgan Barchan is second with a .321 average, 14 RBI, seven extra-base hits, including five doubles. Haley Gorman is also hitting over .300 on the season and leads with two triples.

Both Taylor Orsburn and Jayna Spivey own the top RBI amount with 21 each. Spivey also has a team-high seven bombs on the season, while Orsburn has knocked out four homers of her own.

In the circle, the Salukis are led by Danielle GLosson's 11-8 overall record, 2.77 ERA, 133.0 innings of work and a team-high 107 Ks. She is holding the opposition to a .203 batting average, has allowed 57 runs, with 41 being earned, and has pitched six shutouts.

Alex Peters is 7-3 on the year in the circle with 59 strikeouts, but also has just a 5.40 ERA.

Coach Schuette is an even 1-1 all-time against SIU during her coaching tenure at EIU.

ANOTHER SHOT AT SIUE ...
Having already just played the Cougars last week in a road doubleheader, the Panthers will look to make it three consecutive wins over the newest member of the OVC in a single-game on Thursday.

With the two wins last week, the Panthers actually have already captured the OVC series over SIUE, but a third win will give Eastern the clean sweep and continue their best start in OVC history.

Continuing to lead the SIUE squad is Taylor Tooley with a .340 average, followed by Rachel Coonrod at .307. Coonrod has 20 RBI, while Taylor sports 18.

Taylor leads with four homers and is 6-for-9 in stolen bases, while also having hit six doubles. Kasey Schlafke's 25 RBI actually leads her squad.

Erika Taylor is 11-10 in the circle with 21 starts and 18 complete games this season. She sports 140 strikeouts and a 2.92 ERA, while the opposition has an average batting mark of .245 with her in the circle.

With the two wins over SIUE last week, coach Schuette is currently 3-1 all-time against the Cougars in her coaching tenure. 

THREE AWAY FROM NEW HOMER RECORD ...
Wtih the addition of three homers last weekend at TTU, the Panthers need just three more bombs to set a new school record mark. That honor would top the 30 homers that were notched by last spring's team.
The current crop of Panthers are already averaging nearly one homer per game this season, and with at least 24 games remaining on the schedule (not allowing for any weather cancellations), the squad has a good chance of completely shattering that previous mark.

In fact, under coach Schuette the Panthers have placed, set or tied the school mark for homers in five of her six seasons as head coach.

Individually, Schuette has coached eight of the Top 10 home run leaders, including three current members -- Kiley Holtz at No. 4 (with 17 HR), Hailee Hanna at tied at No. 5 (11), and Melinda Jackson is tied at No. 7 (10).

Meanwhile, sophomore Melise Brown just added her name to that prestigious list as well after nailing a solo shot this past Sunday. She is now tied for 10th all-time with seven bombs.

SIX CAREER 'PITCHER OF THE WEEK' HONORS FOR MAY …
Amber May was been honored with her sixth career adidas® Ohio Valley Conference “Pitcher of the Week” award as announced by the league office on April 4.

The weekly award is the third such honor of May's senior season as the Normal, Ill., native finished with a 2-0 record in the circle, as she struck out 22 batters off 23.1 innings of work for a 0.90 ERA.

This season, May has previously been honored with the prestigious weekly league award on February 14 and March 21.

She retired 12 batters via strikes in the complete 14-inning game at TTU on Saturday, coming just two Ks shy of tying her career-high of 14 strikeouts that she earned in the Panthers' 2-1 win vs. Fairleigh Dickinson last month.

Not only did she help EIU win the 3-1 pitchers' duel marathon contest at Tech, but she also helped strand 17 Golden Eagle base runners in that game alone. That included nine potential TTU game-winning runners-on-base from the eighth-inning on.

In fact, the Golden Eagles had a two-out, bases-loaded situation in their half of the 14th inning, but May's final pitch to the TTU batter came right back to her for the easy ground out to first base to end the extra-inning nail biter.

For the season, May owns a 1.28 ERA and 10-3 winning mark, behind 13 starts and 10 complete games. She has 112 strikeouts on the year which gives her 475 in her Panther career and solidifies her runner-up status in all-time EIU strikeouts.

PANTHERS LISTED IN OVC 'TOP 10' ...
As announced this past Monday (April 4), EIU continues to be well represented in the OVC weekly statistical rankings.

In team stats, the Panthers own the top numbers in three important game statistical categories, for both the entire season and in OVC-only action as well. The list is as follows (stats thru 4/3):
   Pitching (ERA) ... 1st (1.44) ... No. 1 in the nation
      OVC only (ERA) ... 1st (1.33)
   Fielding (avg.) ... 1st (.980)
      OVC only (avg.) ... 1st (.991)

In individual pitching statistics, the following Panthers own the best league for both the season and in OVC-only play (stats thru 4/3):
   Pitching (ERA) ... Maday (0.82) ... No. 5 in the nation
      OVC only (ERA) ... May (0.77)
      Shutouts (#) OVC only ... Maday & May (2)
   Hits (#) ... Brown (43)
      OVC only Batting (%) ... Brown (.541)

QUICK LOOK AT THE UPCOMING SCHEDULE ...
Following the mid-week action against SIU and SIUE, the Panthers will once again hit the road for a three-game weekend series in Ohio Valley Conference action.

Eastern will travel to Richmond, Kentucky to face the perrenial league power Eastern Kentucky squad.

A doubleheader is set for Saturday (April 9), with first pitch scheduled for noon (CDT), followed by a 2 pm nightcap. Then on Sunday (April 10), the single game gets underway, again with a noon start.

NEED A WINNING HIT? ... BROWN DELIVERS ...
Sophomore Melise Brown not only leads the Panthers in hitting, but also has a team-high six game-winning hits (and/or at-bat scenarios) to her name this season.

In addition, she has actually been brought home seven times by other players (or via her own home runs) when another Panther has registered the game-winning hit, etc.

PANTHERS HOLD ONTO THE TOP SPOT IN OVC ...
Even with the one game defeat at TTU last weekend, the Panthers still continue to own the top spot in the league standings as the No. 2 squad, Jacksonville State, dropped two of three at SIU Edwardsville last weekend.

JSU is just a half-game behind the Panthers as they have already played three more contests then EIU with one more win, but also two more defeats.

Since JSU lost the OVC series to SIUE last weekend, that could come into play if a tiebreaker scenario is required for the regular-season champion and end-of-season tournament host. Especially since the Panthers have already won two over SIUE and will look for the clean sweep on Thursday.

... for more info, contact Bart Rettberg, Asst. SID