MOREHEAD, Ky. – Jordan Kreke homered twice and delivered a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning of game two, leading Eastern Illinois baseball to a doubleheader sweep of Morehead State, 26-16 and 6-4, Saturday afternoon in the Ohio Valley Conference openers for both teams.

 

The Panthers (12-5, 2-0 OVC) hit seven home runs on the day. Five came in game one while EIU was recording season-high totals in hits (24) and runs. The 26 runs were the most EIU has scored in a game since posting 27 in an April 2003 home win against Eastern Kentucky.

 

Eastern improved to 6-1 on its spring break trip, and has now won 16 straight games against Morehead State (6-14, 0-2 OVC) dating back to 2004.

 

Kreke homered once in each game. Brett Nommensen, Gerik Wallsten, Jake Samuels and Ben Thoma all went deep in game one. Jordan Tokarz hit a solo shot in the first inning of game two. Wallsten's long ball was the first of his career.

 

With two outs and runners on second and third in the seventh inning of game two (which is a seven-inning game in OVC play), Kreke singled home both runners to put EIU ahead for the first time. Richie Derbak followed with another base hit, plating Kreke after he had moved up to second base on the previous throw home. Eastern caught a break when the inning was extended by a one-out error.

 

Derbak (2-2) also earned the victory on the mound in game two. He worked an inning and two-thirds of scoreless relief, pitching out of jams in both the sixth and seventh innings. With two runners aboard in the sixth, he retired to the first two batters he faced to keep it a one-run game. Morehead mounted a two-out rally in the seventh, but Derbak retired the No. 9 hitter on a comebacker with the bases loaded to end the game.

 

Nommensen scored five times in game one, becoming the first Panther to cross home plate five times since 2005. He finished the day 5-for-6 with three extra-base hits and four free passes (walking twice and getting hit by a pitch twice). His third-inning homer in game one, the first of the seven long balls for EIU, was his team-leading seventh of the season.

 

Derbak had two hits in each contest to extend his career-best hitting streak to 15 games. He finished the day 4-for-9 with four RBIs.

 

Kreke was 6-for-10 with seven RBIs and five runs scored.

 

Josh Mueller pitched six-plus innings of six-run ball in game one to improve to 3-0 on the season. He struck out five, but gave up seven hits and six walks. Two of the six runs scored after he gave way to the EIU bullpen in the seventh inning.

 

Tyler Kehrer worked 5 1/3 innings as the starter in the nightcap. He gave up home runs to two of the first three batters he faced, with an error sandwiched in between. The left-hander finished with four walks and four strikeouts.

 

“After such a big win in game one, the momentum still kind of switched hands at the end of the game,” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “Kehrer settling down was a big key, because you don't have a comeback if he doesn't put zeroes on the board. Their game-two pitcher did well. He had a plus changeup that had our guys out on their front foot. Game two is a hard game and it has been a long road trip. We had luck on our side in that game, but Kreke had a big day. What a big hit. With two outs and two strikes, he smoked it to center. It was a bang-bang play at the plate, so having Ryan Lindquist in there to pinch run was a big move that [third base coach] Sean Lyons called for.”

 

The Panthers posted a pair of eight-run innings in game one, scoring 22 times over the course of a four-inning span. Eastern sent 12 men to the plate in fifth and 13 in the eighth. Nommensen and Wallsten both had a pair of hits in the eight-run fifth, and Zach Borenstein walked twice in the eight-run eighth.

 

The Panthers strung together five consecutive hits in the fifth inning of game one, with the three through seven hitters in the lineup all recording a knock. Kreke and Derbak posted consecutive two-run hits in the middle of the rally. Wallsten capped the scoring in the frame with his three-run homer.

 

Four EIU hitters had already walked in the seventh inning when Lindquist came through with a pinch-hit, two-run single. Samuels followed with a three-run homer.

 

Thoma connected for a three-run long ball as a pinch hitter in the eighth, collecting the first of four straight hits by Panthers. Tokarz and Kreke both posted RBI singles, Derbak knocked in a run with a sac fly and Curt Restko capped the scoring with a two-run double.

 

Both teams were limited to only eight hits in game two. Restko scored EIU's second run of the game on a wild pitch in the third inning. That run came without the luxury of a hit in the frame.

 

Kreke led off the sixth with a solo shot, pulling EIU within a run.

 

Nommensen walked to open the seventh, but was erased at second base on a fielder's choice grounder to shortstop off the bat of Tokarz. Zach Skidmore followed with a fly ball that was dropped by the left fielder, putting runners on second and third. After a strikeout, Kreke singled in the clutch to allow EIU to steal the doubleheader sweep.

Sunday's series finale is slated for a noon (CDT) first pitch. The probable pitching matchup is EIU's Mike Recchia (So, RHP) vs. MSU's Trey Smith (So, RHP).

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID