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PADUCAH, Ky. – For the second game in a row, Eastern Illinois baseball scored multiple times in the first two innings and rode the early lead to a 7-4 victory against Southeast Missouri to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title and punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

 

The regional sites will be announced Sunday afternoon. The 64-team NCAA Tournament will be revealed Monday at 11:30 a.m. live on ESPN. EIU Athletics will be hosting a tournament unveiling gathering at the Lantz Academic Services Center.

 

The OVC Tournament title was EIU's second since joining the league in 1997, and first since 1999. The Panthers defeated Arizona at the '99 Waco, Texas Regional before being eliminated.

 

Jordan Tokarz was named the Tournament MVP after a 9-for-19 showing in the four games. Six of his nine hits went for extra bases, including three doubles in the championship game. He led EIU with seven RBIs. Brett Nommensen also represented the Panthers on the All-Tournament Team after going 8-for-15 with eight runs scored and a .632 on-base percentage. Both players hit safely in all four of EIU's tournament games. Nommensen is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak, matching the longest of his career.

 

Eastern starter Tristan Facer did not surrender a hit until the fifth inning, retiring the first nine batters he faced. He ran into some trouble in the fifth and gave way to Tyler Brandon (3-3) after SEMO scored three runs on four singles. Scott Foley pitched the final three innings to earn his team-leading sixth save of the season. He set down the side in order in the ninth and was mobbed by his teammates on the mound.

 

Foley did not surrender a run over 5 2/3 tournament innings. He was the winning pitcher in the victory over Samford Thursday. Brian Morrell also registered a win and a save in the tourney.

 

“Six runs on the board early, obviously that was crucial to how we played,” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “They chipped away but even that big run in the ninth helped us out. Nommy and Tokarz at the top of the order really got things going every game. But then pitching, here it is again, another four on the board. To average only three or four runs against here in the OVC Tournament is unbelievable. [Pitching coaching] Skylar [Meade], I told him he's a miracle worker. It's all based on having guys that hold you in there. We hit better, obviously, but the key is the pitchers gave us a chance to win. Things started going on our way and the defense was good.”

 

Tokarz doubled in each of his first three at-bats, collecting an RBI in second inning while also scoring in the first two innings. Nommensen singled in his first two at-bats and Zach Skidmore plated him on each occasion. Skidmore had three RBIs in the win despite not collecting a hit. He had six RBIs total in the tourney.

 

The Panthers scored four times in the second inning. Alex Gee hit a home run high off the scoreboard in left to open the scoring. After Ryan Lindquist and Curt Restko reached safely to restart the rally, Nommensen and Tokarz plated their teammates with hits.

 

Southeast Missouri had cut the lead to 6-4 when the Panthers tacked on a key insurance run in the top of the ninth without the luxury of a hit. Restko reached on an error to begin the inning and Nommensen drew a walk. After SEMO brought in its ace Dustin Renfrow, who had closed out the victory against Jacksonville State earlier in the day, Tokarz moved Restko to third with a line out to right center. Skidmore followed with a chopper to first base that allowed Restko to score.

 

Jordan Kreke played a stellar defensive shortstop in the tournament and made two more key plays in the championship game. He leaped and snared a line drive destined for left center in the third inning. Then in the eighth with a runner on first and no outs, he corralled a low throw at second base from Foley and turned a crucial 1-6-3 double play off the bat of All-Tournament selection Matt Wagner. Eastern turned six double plays in the four games; Kreke was part of five.

 

“We talked a lot to Kreke about his role,” Schmitz said. “Early on when we wasn't hitting, he took it with him out on the field. You just keep working with kids and even when it's not there right away, you keeping working with them. Jordan Kreke has literally grown up so much, especially the way he has played defense when he doesn't have a great day offensively. We've got some players, defense, pitching. If we can hit a little bit at the next step, we'll see what happens.”

 

Panther pitching did not surrender an extra-base hit in the victory Saturday. For the tournament, only seven of the 35 hits EIU pitchers gave up went for extra-bases. Additionally, all four of SEMO's runs in the championship game scored with two outs.

 

Eastern beat four different teams in four days to win the tournament crown. Three of the four teams – all but SEMO – had won the regular-season series against the Panthers. Furthermore, EIU's first two opponents, Tennessee Tech and Samford, had swept the Panthers to close the months of March and April, respectively.

 

“I think it's amazing and says how good we played,” Schmitz said of EIU's road to the tourney title. “There were no fluke wins. There were no teams that snuck into the tournament that we beat. We played better teams that during the year beat us. It says a whole about how we've grown up.”

 

No. 4 Eastern became the lowest-seeded team since opening-round byes were introduced in 2005 to win the tournament. Murray State, in 2003, was the last four seed to win the six-team event.

 

With the OVC Tournament chase being as a tight as ever this season, three EIU wins down the stretch proved crucial to the Panthers clinching a berth. Eastern scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to beat SEMO in walk-off fashion on May 4. Foley pitched out of a pair of bases-loaded jams in the ninth inning of a 4-3 win against Austin Peay May 10. A week later, the Panthers scored a season-high 20 runs in a must-win game at Eastern Kentucky.

 

Eastern began the year 0-7. Since then the Panthers have registered a 27-21 record and have currently won five straight games for the third time this season.

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID