Eastern Illinois University reported on May 7 that its softball team secured a narrow 7-6 victory over Southeast Missouri in the opening round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The game, held at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex, was delayed by rain for one hour and eleven minutes.
The win brings Eastern Illinois to a season record of 34-20. The team will advance to play third-seeded SIUE on Friday at 1:30 pm. Southeast Missouri’s overall record falls to 22-29 following the loss.
Eastern Illinois started strong with a four-run first inning. Sophia Olman and Abbi Hatton delivered consecutive RBI singles, while Lexie Griffin added a two-run single up the middle. Griffin finished the game going two-for-three at bat and drove in three runs, including a solo home run in the fifth inning that proved decisive.
Southeast Missouri responded in the fourth inning with Gracie Luna hitting a two-run single to reduce Eastern Illinois’ lead to 4-2. Viola Smith extended Eastern Illinois’ advantage with a two-run homer in the bottom half of the same inning, making it 6-2 before Griffin’s home run increased their lead further.
Madison Winkler contributed an RBI for Southeast Missouri during their fifth-inning rally, which also saw another run score due to an infield error. Bryanna French entered as relief pitcher for Eastern Illinois during this rally and recorded her sixth save of the season by closing out both late-game threats from Southeast Missouri, who scored twice more on RBI doubles by Winkler and Raigan Brannon before French ended their comeback attempt.
Hatton joined Griffin as leading hitters for Eastern Illinois with two hits each.
