Eastern’s offense had been cruising until Sunday.

But the bats were silenced as the Eastern Illinois softball team lost 4-1 to Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Ky.

The Panthers were held to five hits and scored their lone run as senior second baseman Sarah Coppert hit a bunt single to score freshman leftfielder Hayley Pieper in the top of the third inning.

The Lady Colonels (11-16, 2-5 Ohio Valley Conference) responded in the bottom of the frame with two outs. They scored all of their runs in the frame.

EKU sophomore right fielder Cassi Gibson plated freshman left-fielder Diane Gallagher with a single after Gallagher had hit a double.

EKU junior third baseman Shyenne Hussey added damage with a two-run home run. A hit batter in the next at-bat, and sophomore second baseman Amber Lenz would triple to bring in the final run of the frame.

Eastern Illinois (19-12, 6-3) did win its second straight OVC series, as the Panthers are one win away from last season’s total.

“We had opportunities to steal a third,” said Eastern Illinois head coach Kim Schuette. “That’s OK. We’d like to win all three. They got three big hits, and that was the game, unfortunately.”

Hussey’s home run was only her third of the season, bringing her career total to 20.

“It was so high and outside,” Eastern Illinois sophomore Amber May said. “She just got a hold of it. It’s hard to keep her off-balance.”

The Panthers’ best chance to score came in the top of the seventh inning. They had the bases loaded, but junior right-fielder Denee’ Menzione lined out to the third baseman to end the game.

EKU senior pitcher Chelsea Butler (3-1) allowed one run on five hits, walked three and struck out six.

The Panthers left nine runners on base on Sunday, but compared to their doubleheader sweep on Saturday, 5-0 and 13-7, only left a combined eight runners on base.

May (14-8) struck out five, walked one and gave up four runs on six hits on Sunday.

May threw a one-hitter in the 5-0 win on Saturday. She walked six and struck out one in the victory.

May said her team’s offense and defense supported her, as she was not confident on the mound.

“My team helped pick me up,” May said. “That’s what I needed.”

Eastern hits two home runs in the victory. Menzione hit a two-run blast in the first, and Eastern Illinois freshman catcher Hailee Hanna also went deep for her first career home run in the second inning.

In the second game Saturday, EKU jumped out to 2-0 before the Panthers came back with eight unanswered runs as they pounded out 10 hits in the 13-7 win.

Pieper highlighted the long ball festivities, not only with her first career home run, but it was a grand slam. Pieper went 3-for-8 at EKU with four stolen bases and scored four runs. She also had four RBIs.

“It was a just a good hit,” Pieper said. “It was very exciting. It was a line drive. I was afraid it wasn’t going over the fence.”

In the second game, May picked up the win in relief of Eastern Illinois senior pitcher Kathleen Jacoby.

The Panthers return to action against Butler at 2 p.m. on Thursday in a doubleheader at Williams Field.

OVC Standings

Team / OVC / Overall

Tennessee Tech / 7-1 / 19-15

Jacksonville State / 6-1 / 21-9

Eastern Illinois / 6-3 / 19-12

Tennessee State / 5-4 / 13-14

Southeast Missouri / 3-3 / 12-10

Morehead State / 3-5 / 17-12

Eastern Kentucky / 2-5 / 11-16

UT Martin / 2-6 / 18-14

Austin Peay / 1-7 / 7-24

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or at kjmurphy@eiu.edu.

Freshman catcher Hailee Hanna searches for a pop up during the team’s home game against Tennessee State on March 13 at Williams Field. (Erin Matheny/The Daily Eastern News)

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