CHARLESTON – Hitting hasn't been a problem this spring for Illinois softball player Katie O'Connell.

The difficulty for the freshman second baseman from Joliet West has been the positioning of the opposing fielders.

"I've hit good in games but right at people," said O'Connell, who is the third-toughest Illini to strike out.

Illinois coach Terri Sullivan implores her players not to dwell on previous at-bats.

"If you get too down on yourself, that's another obstacle you have to overcome," she said.

O'Connell goes along with that philosophy.

When she stepped to the plate in the sixth inning of Game 1 in Thursday's nonconference doubleheader at Williams Field, it wasn't with the memory of a 7-for-52 start.

"I take every at-bat as it should be: as a new life," O'Connell said.

There was not a more significant at-bat all day. Eastern Illinois led 1-0 with two outs and two strikes on O'Connell.

"Our pitcher (Kristen Becker) had her set up," EIU coach Lloydene Searle said. "She had thrown two outside pitches and one in. Becker came back with one away, and she went after it."

O'Connell drilled the pitch into right field for an opposite-field double, driving in two runs.

"A sign of a good hitter," Sullivan said, "is that she can hit under pressure."

Illinois won the game 3-1 and completed the sweep with a 12-0 triumph in Game 2.

"That was a good clutch hit," Searle said. "We were one pitch away from getting out of the inning."

O'Connell (3 for 6), Janna Sartini (3 for 6) and Erin Jones (2 for 8) had hits in each game. Sartini, a catcher, is the UI batting leader at .393.

Freshman right-handers Kathryn Nevard (8-3) and Amanda Fortune (4-3) pitched back-to-back three-hitters.

Nevard – who didn't allow a ball out of the infield until the fifth inning – struck out six and walked three. Fortune walked no one and fanned seven in five innings.

Illinois (13-7) tied its season mark for wins. EIU is 0-2.

Area notes

Centennial graduate Jenny Herber broke up Nevard's no-hitter in the opener with a one-out single in the fifth. For the doubleheader, the sophomore center fielder was 2 for 5.

Sisters Linde (a sophomore) and Lorie (a freshman) Daniel of Schlarman played in each game for EIU. Lorie started Game 2 at first base and was 0 for 2. Linde played in reserve at second base.

For Illinois, Centennial product Reed Evans has left the team. Evans played in two games and hit .250.

With her departure, the lone UI holdover from its first season is backup catcher Kim Hubbard, a senior.