The Eastern softball team has been playing for a little over a month and Ohio Valley Conference games will kick off at Williams Field this weekend starting on Saturday at 1 p.m. against SIUE  

Softball has been playing on the road since early February and they are 14-12 overall and 3-0 in conference play, putting them at the top of the conference. The Panthers were selected to finish fourth in the OVC Preseason Poll. 

The Panthers swept OVC opponent UT Martin on the road two weekends ago with one of the games ending after five innings as the Panthers were able to get 10 runs across the plate. 

In game one, Kendall Grover was vital to the offense as she had two hits and four RBIs. Amber Cieplinski tacked on one hit, which helped seal the 5-1 win for the Panthers. 

The 10-0 win for the Panthers in five innings started off strong as Lindy Milkowski and Briana Gonzalez both had home runs in the first inning. Milkowski had a three-run home run and Gonzalez had a two-run home run. 

The Panthers went on to score four runs in the fifth inning. 

The last game of the series saw the Panthers head into extra innings, pulling out the 5-2 win. The game was scoreless through the first seven innings but then Milkowski drove in two runs and Rachel Kaufman had a three-run home run to give the Panthers their five runs.  

Southeast Missouri is right behind the Panthers in the standings with a 4-1 record and an 11-8 overall record. Tennessee State is tied with the Redhawks for second place.  

Southern Indiana and Morehead State are in the middle of the standings as the Screaming Eagles have a 2-1 record and the Eagles have a 3-2 record.  

The bottom half of the standings includes SIUE, UT Martin, Lindenwood, and Tennessee Tech, all of which have been defeated in their opening series of OVC games.  

The Panthers are second in the conference in team batting as they are averaging .277 as a team. They are fourth in the conference in team pitching with a team ERA of 3.50.  

Sophomore outfielder Jaylen Prichard leads the starting lineup with a .354 batting average. Prichard has had 29 hits and 11 RBIs with a .451 slugging percentage through 82 at bats. 

Prichard is fourth in the conference in hits with 29, averaging 1.21 hits per game. Prichard is also fourth in the conference in runs scored with 16. 

Junior catcher Lindy Milkowski is third on the team with a .329 batting average. Through 70 at bats, Milkowski has 23 hits, 26 RBIs, and nine home runs, earning her a .786 slugging percentage.  

Milkowski is second in the conference in runs scored with 19 and first in the conference in home runs with her nine on the season. She is first in the conference in runs batted in with her 26 on the season. 

Senior right-hander Rachel Kaufman has been the go-to for the Panthers this season. Kaufman has a 1.94 ERA through 16 appearances, allowing 43 hits and 12 earned runs.  

Kaufman is fourth in the conference in individual pitching with her 1.94 ERA for the season. She is 3-3 with one save, allowing 13 runs.  

The other starters for the season include junior outfielder Aryn Henke, freshman infielder Kendall Grover, sophomore infielder Briana Gonzalez, graduate student outfielder Morgan Lewis, and senior infielder Maddie Swart.  

Autumn Schulz can be reached at 581-2812 or acschulz@eiu.edu