By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As the Ohio Valley Conference race enters its final four weekends of the regular season, the Tennessee Tech softball team will welcome in current league No. 2 Eastern Illinois for a three-game series starting on Friday.
Tech will play the Panthers at 4 p.m. on Friday, while the series will conclude on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Dylan Vazzano on the call.
The Golden Eagles (3-34 overall, 0-12 OVC) is looking to break out of its second 14-game losing streak of the season. They stand behind 2-8 SIUE for the final spot in the OVC softball tournament held next month at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala. With 12 conference games remaining, there's still room to make a push.
For instance, the 2005 Golden Eagles stood 4-10 in league play with 12 games remaining in the OVC slate. Tech went 12-0 in that final stretch, earned a spot in the conference championship and won the tournament on Jacksonville State's home field.
Stranger things have happened.
Meanwhile, Eastern Illinois stands essentially five games back from Southeast Missouri for the top seed in the conference tournament with the Redhawks hoisting a 13-1 league record – the lone loss to Tennessee State – to the Panthers' 9-2 mark in the OVC. Newcomer Southern Indiana and mainstay UT Martin are just one win behind EIU, but both teams have played 14 total games to Eastern's 11, which will leave the Panthers on top by virtue of percentage.
EIU has a 21-15 overall record and was undefeated in the conference until last week as Southern Indiana took two of three games from the Panthers with an 8-5 loss in nine innings and a 2-0 defeat on the final day. The Panthers rebounded with a midweek victory over Saint Louis, emerging victorious 4-3.
Eastern Illinois is the conference leader in runs scored (158), hits (264), RBI (143), doubles (52) and total bases (426), while standing in second in on-base percentage (.358) and home runs (32). As a team, the Panthers are hitting .275.
Lindy Milkowski is a big part of that production as she has collected team-highs in RBI (30), home runs (11) and runs scored (23) to go along with her .330 batting average – which is third on the team. Jaylen Prichard (.362, 21 runs scored, 15 RBI) and Rachel Kaufman (.353, 14 runs scored, 23 RBI) have been more accurate at the plate.
In the circle, EIU has a combined 3.29 earned run average, led by Olivia Price with a 2.19 mark and a 9-3 record. She has struck out 50, while Alexa Rehmeier has 54 K's. Kaufman and Rehmeier both have identical 5-4 records in the circle.
The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, are batting .231 on the season with 90 RBI and 10 home runs. Tech has two of the toughest batters in the country to strike out as Abby Shoulders (.291) and Haeli Bryson (.286) are both ranked in the top 25 – one of only two teams in the country to have that with Utah standing as the other. Shoulders and Bryson have just four strikeouts each in 103 at-bats for the Middle Tennessee transfer and 105 trips for the Tech graduate.
Bryson also leads the team in RBI with 22. Shoulders leads the team in runs scored with 18 and also has eight of Tech's 25 stolen bases. Both players each have 30 hits.
Carmen Betts (.233) also has 13 RBI, while Jordan Key (.275) is also hovering close to .300 on the season.
In the circle, Tech's staff ERA is starting to deflate in conference play as the team has an 8.92 mark, led by Callie Piper with a 7.47 ERA on the season in 84 1/3 innings of work with 28 strikeouts. She also has two of Tech's three wins. Kaylan Cole (11.13 ERA) has the other win. In conference play, the staff ERA is down to 7.32, led by Piper's 6.03.
Admission to all games at Tech Softball Field are free to the public. With rainy weather projected in the forecast, the schedule is subject to change.
Photo | Jim Dillon
