Eastern softball used two walk-off hits to sweep a doubleheader against Southern Indiana Sunday at Willimas Field, winning game one 3-1 in eight innings and game two 9-1 in six innings.

The Panthers (22-17, 14-3) have won all but one series in Ohio Valley Conference play, with this marking the third series sweep of the season.

After a leadoff single by freshman utility Abby Hatton in the bottom of the eighth inning, Eastern’s next two hitters both made out, bringing up sophomore catcher Sophia Olman with two outs and the winning run on first base.

With one ball and no strikes on her, Olman got a pitch that was waist-high and down the middle of the plate and drove it deep to centerfield for a walk-off two-run home run.

“In that at-bat I was thinking, ‘OK, first pitch changeup, now we sit something hard and swing as hard as we can’,” Olman said. “I guess it paid off.”

Olman, who had two hits in her previous 14 at-bats, was a key contributor for the game’s first run. With one out in the fifth inning, she hit a ball to the warning track that went off the centerfielder’s glove.

Olman was pinch ran for by sophomore utility Emily Konkel who advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a wild pitch after the ball caromed off the catcher’s shin guard. Olman reentered in the sixth inning.

“I’d been struggling the past couple of weekends not delivering when I need to deliver,” Olman said. “So I’ve just been focusing on hitting my pitch, hitting it where its pitched and just trying to hit something hard.”

Up until that home run, the run-scoring wild pitch was the only blemish on the record of Southern Indiana freshman starting pitcher Kylie Witthaus, who matched Eastern sophomore starter Karlie McKenzie nearly pitch-for-pitch.

McKenzie was dominant throughout the eight innings she pitched and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

“She was using that rise ball quite a bit,” Olman said. “The rise, that back-door curve and she was mixing in that changeup which was keeping them off-balance.”

The Screaming Eagles (10-21, 7-9) got their first hit on an infield pop-up that the wind grabbed hold of and steered away from every Panther defender.

The Southern Indiana offense was able to take advantage of its first hit and tied the game at 1-1 thanks to an RBI line-drive double to left field by sophomore outfielder Kate Satkoski.

“I didn’t really care about the no-hitter to be honest,” McKenzie said. “I just wanted to win for my team.”

McKenzie allowed three hits and struck out six while walking two hitters. She retired the first 12 batters she faced in order.

“It just wasn’t meant to be for the no-hitter, but getting the win and her going the distance even though we went into extra innings was outstanding,” Eastern co-head coach Dan Paulson said.

Game two was a faster start offensively for the Panthers, who scored in every inning except for the fourth to win 9-1 in a game that was shortened by the run rule.

Sophomore pitcher McKenzie Oslanzi, who got the win in Saturday’s series opener, pitched six innings in the second game of the doubleheader, allowing five hits and one unearned run.

Oslanzi pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fifth inning by getting the next two hitters to fly out to left field and ground out to escape the danger without allowing a run.

The Panthers responded by scoring two runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning and then scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Two of those runs came on a two RBI double to right field by Morgan Hance to activate the run rule and end the game.

“My pitches were spot-on so my defense can make some plays for me, and they did that well today,” Oslanzi said.

Eastern took advantage of three Screaming Eagle errors in game two, which Southern Indiana head coach Sue Kunkle was left frustrated with, acknowledging the team’s mistakes defensively and un-timely hitting.

The Screaming Eagles left 15 runners on base across both games of the doubleheader.

“We just needed to push a couple more runs through and we didn’t,” Kunkle said. “[The scoreboard after game two] says only three errors and that needs to be changed. I mean we had like six.”

The Panthers swept the series despite the absence of senior shortstop Briana Gonzalez, who is away from the team and with her family while her dad battles Sarcoma cancer.

The emotions, which were on full display in Saturday’s game, seemed to carry over into game one.

“The motto that we talked about all weekend was play for Bri [Gonzalez] and her family,” Paulson said. “Obviously the first game was a little tighter than we liked, but it kind of had a real storybook ending.”

The Panthers sit in first place in the OVC and are one game ahead of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

Eastern goes on the road for a four-game road trip beginning on Wednesday against St. Louis University before traveling to play Tennessee State in an OVC series.

First pitch on Wednesday is set for 4 p.m.

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.