CHARLESTON, Ill. – A regular-season Ohio Valley Conference championship and the program's first-ever national ranking from Collegiate Baseball highlighted Eastern Illinois baseball's memorable 2009 campaign.

 

The Panthers (36-14, 14-4 OVC) claimed their fourth OVC regular-season title and first since 2001. The 36 overall victories were only one shy of the program's single-season record.

 

From March 21 to April 10, EIU posted a 13-game winning streak. It was the longest of the program's Ohio Valley Conference era (1997-present) and the fifth longest streak in the country this season. After it was snapped in game two of a doubleheader at UT Martin, the Panthers hit nine home runs and scored 30 runs in the rubber game of the series the following day.

 

However, that weekend proved costly. Brett Nommensen suffered a broken hamate bone in his right wrist in game one of the April 10 doubleheader, an injury that sidelined him until the OVC Tournament. At the time of the injury, Nommensen was leading the nation in on-base and slugging percentage while also ranking second in the country in batting average; Baseball America had named him a Midseason All-American the same day the injury occurred.

 

Nommensen reached base safely five times in his seven plate appearances at the OVC Tournament to finish the year with an even higher average and OBP (.652) than he had compiled before the injury. His .525 batting average represents a new EIU single-season record. He also tied the program's all-time runs scored mark.

 

A number of players stepped up in Nommensen's absence as EIU completed the journey to the conference title. Jordan Kreke became the third Panther to win OVC Player of the Year honors after recording a .507 average, nine home runs and 40 RBIs in the 18 conference games. He was also named a Louisville Slugger Third Team All-American. Jordan Tokarz, Richie Derbak and Mike Recchia joined Kreke as First Team All-OVC selections.

 

Tyler Kehrer struck out 10-plus batters on three occasions on his way to finishing the season with 90 K's, the second-highest single-season total in program history. The left-hander struck out 14 in his complete game one-hitter against SIU Edwardsville on April 26.

Kreke and Nommensen teamed up to win five straight OVC Player of the Week awards from March 16 to April 13, establishing a new conference record for consecutive POWs. Kreke was the first player in league history to be a three-time Player of the Week. Nommensen was also named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's National Hitter of the Week on April 7. Recchia and Kehrer, meanwhile, each earned OVC Pitcher of the Week honors once.

 

Kehrer and Nommensen are projected to be the first two EIU players selected in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft (June 9-11).

 

The Panthers enjoyed one of the finest offensive campaigns in program history, establishing a new single-season hits record (644). Eastern's 92 home runs and the .362 team batting average both ranked second in program history, with the .362 clip also being the highest of the OVC era. The Panthers led the nation in batting average the weeks of April 20 and May 11 and were tops in the league in average, home runs and on-base percentage for much of the season.

 

Eastern won the four-team Bulls Baseball Classic in Tampa, Fla., the weekend of March 13-15, defeating South Florida, Bethune-Cookman and Oklahoma in three consecutive days. The Panthers eventually entered the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 national poll on April 6 and retained their ranking for another week. Ping!Baseball.com also ranked EIU among the Top 30 nationally from April 27 to May 18.

 

On May 2 in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Eastern rallied back from a pair of 4-0 deficits to sweep a big OVC doubleheader against rival Southeast Missouri State. The two teams entered the weekend series one-two in the standings, and it was those two victories that essentially locked up the regular-season league title.

 

However, EIU would not play again for nine days. The series finale at SEMO was rained out and the entire series at Austin Peay the following weekend was canceled due to over three feet of standing water in the outfield. Eastern was also idle the week of May 4-8 due to final exams on campus.

 

The Panthers will have to bid adieu to eight seniors and would lose Kehrer if he signs after getting drafted by a MLB franchise, but are slated to return seven position players that were regular starters in 2009.