With Easter on Sunday, the series is slated for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and 1 p.m. series finale Saturday. League rules state that the set cannot be extended into Sunday if inclement weather causes a cancellation.
Due to it being Easter weekend, UTM's campus radio station will not be carrying the games like usual. Updates will be posted here at EIUpanthers.com as often as possible Friday and Saturday.
The Panthers (22-5, 7-0 OVC), ranked 27th this week by Collegiate Baseball, enter the weekend riding a 12-game winning streak, the longest active streak in the nation. Eastern has also won six straight true road games dating back to the March 13 victory at South Florida. That's also the longest active streak in the country, with Georgia and New Mexico State having also won six straight road games entering the weekend.
Brett Nommensen remains five stolen bases shy of Mike Heimerdinger's EIU all-time record. With Nommensen leading the nation in on-base percentage and the Panthers averaging over 13 runs per game during their win streak, it seems as though he's more likely to break the career runs scored mark this weekend. Nommensen has scored 179 times as a Panther, three shy of assistant coach Sean Lyons' program record (182).
Lyons was also coaching third base when Ryan Campbell eclipsed his EIU all-time hits and doubles records in an April 2007 series at Jacksonville State. Besides the steals mark, the hits record (260) is most likely the next benchmark Nommensen (249) will eclipse.
Since losing two-of-three to UT Martin (10-17, 1-5 OVC) in the conference-opening series of the 2004 season, the Panthers have won nine of the last 12 – including a three-game series sweep in Charleston last year. However, games one and two last season were both decided by only two runs. Eastern blew out the Skyhawks in the series finale, but eliminated a lot of UTM base runners thanks to a school-record five double plays.
UT Martin also features three players hitting over .400, the Hartsfield brothers – Miles (.421) and Mark (.420) – and Scott Gladstone (.417). Gladstone (23 games) and Miles Hartsfield (21) are currently riding the longest hitting streaks in the OVC this season. Furthermore, it'll be UTM's first OVC series at home, where the Skyhawks have posted six of their 10 wins.
“They swing the bats well and they have aggressive hitters,” EIU head coach
Jim Schmitz said. “Last year's doubleheader scores were close, and they always play us well. We never seem to come away with three big wins down there. I think one of the keys is they play loose. Our team has stayed loose, too, through the recent good times. I want us to keep that level of composure and continue having fun.
“Coming out and playing like we did Wednesday, both hitting and pitching, is the way to answer that nice ranking we received. We went out and had a good game and that should help us relax going into the weekend.”
Both teams have setup their pitching rotations with a right-left-right format. With that in mind, Schmitz said he plans to platoon the first base, right field and designated hitter positions.
Alex Gee,
Ryan Lindquist and
Ben Thoma are expected to start game two against left-hander Brendan Lozupone.
UTM's projected game one starter, Coty Green, leads the OVC in innings pitched (55). Last weekend at Eastern Kentucky, he worked six innings in game one and closed out the series finale Sunday to earn a save.
“Green competes well,” Schmitz said. “Their pitchers tend to pitch backwards – off-speed early in the count and fastballs late. We've talked about it and need to respond to who's on the mound. We'll work on getting a good pitch, and staying off the off-speed unless it's right there.”
Last season in Charleston,
Richie Derbak led the offensive attack with a 6-for-9 series. He recorded nine RBIs thanks to a 4-for-4 showing with runners in scoring position.
The Panthers also got stellar starting pitching.
Josh Mueller struck out nine over six innings in his debut as the game one weekend starter. In the finale,
Tyler Kehrer fanned seven and gave up only one earned run over seven innings.
Following the weekend series at UTM, Tuesday's contest at Illinois is EIU's final true road game during the month of April.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game 1: EIU's
Josh Mueller (So, RHP) vs. UTM's Coty Green (Jr, RHP)
Game 2: EIU's
Tyler Kehrer (Jr, LHP) vs. UTM's Brendan Lozupone (Fr, LHP)
Game 3: EIU's
Mike Recchia (So, RHP) vs. UTM's Tanner Hensley (Sr, RHP)
More Info: Contact
Ben Turner, Asst. SID
