Eastern’s softball team extended their win streak to nine games after winning both games against Tennessee Tech University in their doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Williams Field.

Eastern secured both victories with a high-scoring fifth inning in the first game and an impressive pitching performance in next game.

In the first game, the Golden Eagles came out fast as they scored one run and had bases loaded, but the Panthers was able to create a triple play to get out of the inning.

Eastern hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, and they were up for just that inning as Tech answered back with a run of their own in the second.

Panther freshman pitcher McKenzie Oslanzi gave up two walks and a hit by pitch in the first inning alone. This did not stop her from gaining the win however, as head coach Tara Archibald told Oslanzi to keep battling.

“True competitors battle their way out and find ways to win with what they got, and I thought she did that all day long today,” Archibald said. “So, yeah, she battled hard and was tough for our team and got a huge win for us.”

Oslanzi ended up finishing with four earned runs and her 19th win of the season.

In the fifth inning, things opened up for the Panthers as they were able to score seven runs on their way to the victory.

Archibald said she couldn’t recall exactly what she said to the team before the inning, but she thought it was something she usually says during games.

“Let’s have a great team offense,” Archibald said. “That’s something we’ve been focusing a lot on is not trying to just go up there and do it ourselves but trying to work together and have team offense and move runners around, and they did a good job.”

In the second game, offense took a back seat as it was mostly a pitcher’s duel.

Through the first three innings, neither team was able to score a run. Eastern pulled ahead with one run each in the fourth and fifth innings.

Panther senior pitcher Olivia Price completed four innings with no hits but gave up one in the fifth.

Price did give up a run in the sixth inning but was able to block it out and focus on finishing the game.

“I knew we had two more opportunities to score,” Price said. “They only had one, so just knowing that we had the upper hand as is, it didn’t really matter.”

Price finished the game with three strike outs, one earned run and her eighth win of the season.

With the Panther’s ninth win in a row, they improved to 32-12 overall and 16-4 in conference play.  They are now two games ahead of second place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Panthers will play again on Sunday as they look to complete the series sweep against the Golden Eagles. The game will be played at 12 p.m. at Williams Field.

Patrick Schmitz can be reached at 581-2812 or at pfschmitz@eiu.edu.