CHARLESTON, Ill. – Jordan Kreke posted career highs in hits (5) and RBIs (8) in game one and Mike Recchia pitched a two-hit shutout in the nightcap, leading Eastern Illinois baseball to a doubleheader sweep of Tennessee Tech, 25-5 and 2-0, Sunday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.

The Panthers (17-5, 5-0 OVC) have won seven straight and 11 of their last 12.

Kreke hit a pair of three-run homers in game one en route to tying the EIU single-game RBI record. Richie Derbak recorded his second career five-hit effort in game one, homering in his second at-bat. Zach Borenstein and Gerik Wallsten also went deep in the blowout win. Jordan Tokarz hit a solo shot in the third inning of game two. With 35 home runs this season, 22 coming during the current win streak, EIU has matched its total from 2008.

 

Both games of the doubleheader were seven-inning affairs after Saturday's scheduled twinbill was canceled due to rain.

Recchia (5-0) struck out nine in his first career complete-game shutout. He did not give up a hit until the sixth inning. A.J. Kirby Jones, who suffered the loss on the mound in game one, broke up the right-hander's no-hit bid with a two-out single. The game two win was EIU's first in shutout fashion since February 2007.

 

Josh Mueller pitched six innings of three-run ball in game one to improve to 4-0 on the season. He struck out a season-high eight. Tech (11-10, 0-5 OVC) scored all three runs against him in the fourth inning.

 

“I'm excited to be 5-0,” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “We got off to such a great start in game one; we've done that two weekends in a row. I didn't think [Kirby-Jones] was really sharp, and we took advantage of that. Kreke was obviously on fire. I thought we lost our edge a little bit. Game two is very hard to play. We're going to have to work on that a little better. It's nice knowing you have Mike Recchia. [Pitching coach] Skylar [Meade] made a good decision to go with him. We went with our two guys that could give us W's on such a cold day. I hope we keep our edge and continue to come out ready to play.”

The Panthers scored 12 times in the second inning of game one, recording a double-figure run total in an inning for the first time since scoring 10 times in the sixth inning of the 2008 home finale against Evansville.

 

Despite temperatures in the 30s and a harsh wind, the Panthers played flawless defense behind the stellar pitching they received from their starters.

 

“We have been playing really well [defensively],” Schmitz said. “If we've had an error, it has just been an error that has had nothing to do with runs. We harped on that in the fall, and talked about all the unearned runs that scored against us last year. It's easy to play defense when you know you've got [pitchers] attacking the zone.”

 

Eastern was limited to four hits in the low-scoring nightcap. Lee Henry worked 3 1/3 innings of no-hit relief out of the Tech bullpen. Both hitters he allowed to reach were erased before reaching second base.

 

Derbak finished the day 6-for-8 with three double, his second homer of the season, four RBIs and three runs scored. He doubled to right center in the second inning of game two and scored EIU's first run on a subsequent single up the middle by Borenstein, who was 3-for-6 with his first career homer and five RBIs in the doubleheader.

 

Brett Nommensen (15 games) and Kreke (11) both saw their career-best hitting streaks come to an end in the game two win. Kreke did become the fourth active Panther with a multi-homer game and five-hit effort, respectively.

 

The Panthers benefited from seven Tech errors and 10 walks in game one. Kirby-Jones (1-1) walked four of the first five batters he faced before giving up a two-run double to Derbak.

 

Wallsten, Kreke and Derbak all hit homers in the 12-run second inning. Wallsten connected for a line shot off the scoreboard in left, Kreke bombed a three-run job over the scoreboard and Derbak went deep to center – the latter two coming back-to-back.

 

Eastern sent 17 men to the plate in its biggest inning of the year. The second time through the lineup, Zach Skidmore doubled home a pair of runs and Kreke and Derbak both posted their second hits of the frame.

 

The Panthers later strung together five straight hits in the sixth inning. Skidmore and Jake Samuels scored on Kreke's second homer. After another double by Derbak, Borenstein connected for an opposite-field shot.

 

Before opening a five-game homestand Wednesday at 3 p.m. against Chicago State, EIU closes out the month of March Tuesday with a 3 p.m. game at Saint Louis The Panthers have already played both opponents once this season, losing in walk-off fashion to SLU on Feb. 27 in Evansville and defeating CSU last week on the South Side.

Tyler Kehrer is expected to start on the mound Tuesday and Mike Martin Wednesday.

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID