Senior infielder Briana Gonzalez returned home and hit a walk off sacrifice fly for Eastern softball’s seventh win in a row with an 8-0 victory in six innings over Indiana State on Tuesday night at Williams Field.

Gonzalez missed the last home series as she had to be with her dad. She is back and gave the Panthers (26-17, 17-3) the win.

“It’s awesome to be back. I’m really excited just to finish the season at home,” Gonzalez said. “And it’s my last one, so it’s really special.”

The scoring did not start until the fourth inning when Freshman utility player Abbi Hatton hit a ball that stayed right inside the foul line down the third base side. The hit scored two runners to give the Panthers the lead over the Sycamores (15-30, 9-10) and started the momentum for Eastern.

“It was close to being foul, but I hit it hard enough to where it scored two runs and got us going,” Hatton said. “And then we just kept going from there and run ruled them in the end.”

Eastern capitalized again later in the inning when fifth year utility player Abbey Crain grounded into a fielder’s choice which scored a run.

In the fifth, good baserunning led to three more runs after it started with sophomore outfielder Karson Davey stealing second base as Gonzalez stole home. Gonzalez was at third base after a leadoff triple to start the inning.

The runs continued as Davey eventually stole home after a passed ball.

Davey is currently ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference with nine stolen bases.

Eastern finished the scoring in the fifth after a fielder’s choice scored sophomore infielder Alisha Frederick.

Going into the sixth inning, Eastern was ahead by six runs and finished the game after junior infielder Kendall Grover hit a line drive double which scored Crain.

Grover finished the game with two hits. She has a .418 batting average on the year and has driven in 33 runs.

Gonzalez then finished the game as she hit a sacrifice fly ball to right field to bring in Grover.

Because of the run rule in softball, any time after the fifth inning if a team is up by at least eight runs the game is over.

Co-head coach Dan Paulson said that every hitter in the lineup got a hit and it was overall a good offensive showcase.

“You know, just locking in, we’ve kind of been rolling late, and to see us keep that going is great,” Paulson said. “When we had six going into that inning, we were talking over here, and I said, I think we’re gonna do it here, and we got it done with only one out.”

Sophomore pitcher McKenzie Oslanzi pitched five scoreless innings allowing only three hits while picking up the win.

“Just spinning it, making sure hitters are getting away from my ball,” Oslanzi said. “Just making sure I’m doing what needs to be done for my teammates.

Oslanzi has a 2.63 ERA and 15 wins this season.

Eastern is currently in first place in the OVC with a conference record of 17-3. The Panthers are currently on a 10-game winning streak in conference play as Eastern plays Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville on Saturday.

“We’re going to stay calm, and we’re going to work on the little things and not look too far ahead and take everything one pitch at a time,” Hatton said. “One game at a time and just play for each other and play for more.”

Eastern can clinch the regular season championship for the second year in a row with a series victory this weekend if other results work out around the conference. Game one of the series is Saturday at 3 p.m. at Williams Field.

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