Designated hitter Kisten Martin went 3-for-4 with four runs driven in during the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader as the Illinois softball team swept Eastern Illinois 5-3 and 4-3. The Illini improved their record to 9-3 in their last 12 games.

Illinois starting pitcher Claire DeVreese got off to a rocky start in the first game as Eastern Illinois scored two in the top of the first after leadoff batter Chelsea Adams went deep over the center field wall.

DeVreese kept the Panthers’ bats in check for the most part the rest of the way, retiring 10 batters in a row at one point. Eastern threatened in the top of the seventh and scored one run, but DeVreese and the Illini escaped with the win.

“I think coming back and earning some runs for Claire was key,” head coach Terri Sullivan said. “If the pitching isn’t immediately right on, we want our offense to pick it up. I think a team with great chemistry has each other’s backs and I think we did that (Wednesday night).”

The momentum swung in Illinois’ favor in the bottom of the first after the Illini put a string of hits together and Martin came through with a two-run single up the middle to tie the game.

“(Eastern Illinois starting pitcher Kathleen Jacoby) was throwing me mostly to the outside. I recognized that, and just went with the pitches,” Martin said.

In the bottom of the second, Martin came up big again and lined an 0-2 pitch over the center fielder for a two-run double.

In the second game, Illinois starting pitcher Kacey Coonce scattered zeros across the scoreboard for Eastern and helped her own cause with a three-run blast over the left field wall in the bottom of the second inning.

“Kacey Coonce is a great hitter,” Sullivan said. “She’s going to do some awesome things in an Illini uniform, but she’s been a little frustrated lately with her numbers. I think today people saw the real Kacey Coonce.”

Coonce drove in another run in the bottom of the fourth after centerfielder Molly Lawhead lined a triple into the left field corner.

The Panthers rallied in the top of the sixth when Sandyn Short went deep for a three-run home run. After allowing another hit, Coonce was pulled in favor of DeVreese. Four pitches later, Eastern flied out to right field and Lawhead caught the Panther runner leaning for a double play to end the half inning.

Illinois got the final out of the game when an Eastern Illinois runner tried to take home after a ball got past Illinois catcher Brittany Koester. The ball bounced off the backstop, though, and Koester recovered in time to tag the runner out.

DeVreese closed out the game for the Illini and earned the save, despite allowing eight free passes on the day.

“I think she just wasn’t loose,” Sullivan said. “But what was most important was that she adjusted her game plan and persevered. She wasn’t quite at her best, but she still came up big for us.”