The two teams entered the day in a virtual tie for first place in the conference standings. With the doubleheader sweep, the Panthers (34-10, 12-3 OVC) assured themselves of their first series victory in Cape Girardeau since 2003.

 

Eastern hit six home runs in game one, including three solo shots in the eighth inning to take the lead for good. The Panthers scored five two-out runs in the nightcap. In both games, EIU tacked on an insurance run in the top half of the final inning. That extra tally proved to be the difference after SEMO (25-18, 11-6 OVC) hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the frame.

 

“I told the team before the game, 'the reason we're in first place in the OVC is we've found a way to win,' EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “They seem to know that now. We yelled at two outs, we said two strikes. We call them ugly hits. The [SEMO pitchers] were throwing all curve balls and we were out in front. But two-out hits and home runs, we're finding different ways to win.”

 

Eastern scored in each of the final five innings of game two and took the lead for good with a two-run sixth.

 

Ryan Lindquist and Jordan Kreke both finished the day with five hits. Lindquist posted his first career multi-homer effort in game one. Kreke had a double in each game and reached base safely seven times on the day. He also closed out the nightcap on the mound for his second save, striking out the first batter he faced in the sixth and getting Nick Harris to ground into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

 

Jake Samuels had three hits in game two, driving in runs with singles in the third and fifth innings. Zach Skidmore delivered a pair of two-out, run-scoring hits. Jordan Tokarz scored on both of Skidmore's clutch knocks and drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh to force in the key insurance run.

 

Alex Gee, Ben Thoma, Zach Borenstein and Skidmore also hit home runs in game one.

 

The series opener ended on a wild play. With runners on the corners, two outs and Blake Slattery at the plate sporting a .077 batting average for the season, SEMO tried to steal the game-tying run. Nick Harris broke for second base and tried to get caught in a run down. Thoma threw down to second base where Tokarz cut off the throw. Tokarz gunned it to third and pinch runner Kendal Deason was tagged out to end the game.

 

Both EIU starting pitchers persevered after tough starts. In game one, Josh Mueller surrendered four first-inning runs on four hits and two walks. But he kept SEMO off the scoreboard for the rest of his six-inning outing. He retired 10 straight batters from the third through sixth innings, and did not issue a walk the rest of the game.

 

Game two starter Mike Recchia (8-1) gave up five runs (three earned) over the first three innings. However, he battled back after a one-out double in the third. He retired nine of the final 12 batters he faced, and erased a leadoff walk in the fourth by picking off the runner between first and second base. He also posted four strikeouts over a stretch of six hitters faced.

 

“The big comment is being down both games and coming back,” Schmitz said. “I mean big games, these aren't just games. The way Josh and Mike got through it. We told them they've got to get though this because we didn't want to go to relief that early. That's the big story. They did a great job, and we battled back. Two of the better comebacks we've had in a while. We really haven't had them this year, we've been out winning.”

 

Richie Derbak (6-2) earned the victory in game one with 2 2/3 innings of relief. He retired the first two batters he faced to close out the seventh inning with two runners aboard. He stranded two more runners after giving up a run in the eighth.

 

Eastern turned a double play in each of the first two innings of the series opener to help thwart SEMO's early momentum. Gee made a nice defensive play in the second inning when he speared a sinking line drive at first base and doubled up the runner at second base. That play came on the heels of a leadoff double.

 

Thoma hit the first of EIU's three eighth-inning homers in game one, his eighth of the season. Lindquist then made it back-to-back jacks with another longball to left. After Curt Restko was retired on a fly ball to center, Borenstein connected for an opposite-field shot to left center. All three homers came against SEMO closer Jim Klocke, who had been behind the plate as the catcher for the first seven innings.

 

Skidmore led off the ninth inning with the longest home run of the day by a Panther, crushing the first pitch he saw from SEMO reliever Ryan Poole over the right field fence.

 

Eastern began its game one comeback with a run in the second inning. Kreke doubled to right center and scored on Derbak's subsequent single through the right side. Kreke also scored on Gee's opposite-field homer to right center with one out in the fourth. Two innings later, Lindquist tied the game at 4-4 with another opposite-field shot.

 

The Panthers manufactured the game-tying run in the fifth inning of the nightcap with a pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt. Derbak led off with a base hit and Thoma moved him into scoring position with a bunt. Samuels promptly plated Derbak with a line-drive single into right center.

 

An inning later, EIU made the Redhawks pay for a two-out error. John Salazar quickly retired the first two batters of the frame and looked to have a 1-2-3 inning in the works when Tokarz hit a slow roller to shortstop. But Tony Spencer let the ball go under his glove and into left field. Skidmore made it a significant play when he hit a blooper down the left field line. Justin Wheeler tried to catch it with a head-first dive, but could not get leather on the ball. As it rolled into foul territory, Tokarz scampered around from first base to score the go-ahead run.

 

The game two comeback was ignited with a three-run third inning. Skidmore started it with a one-out walk and Kreke followed with single up the middle. On Derbak's subsequent single through the right side, Skidmore tried to score from second base. The Panthers caught a break when Klocke was unable to handle the quality one-hop throw to the plate. A balk charged to Todd Strahlendorf followed, allowing Kreke to score. After a strikeout, Samuels' single to left made it a one-run game.

 

Tokarz tripled with two outs in the fourth inning and trotted home on Skidmore's base hit up the middle.

 

Back-to-back two-out singles from Lindquist and Restko, followed by consecutive walks to Borenstein and Tokarz led to the seventh-inning insurance run.

Sunday's series finale is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. The probable pitching matchup is EIU's Tyler Kehrer (Jr, LHP) vs. SEMO's Kyle Gumieny (Jr, RHP).

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID