NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Eastern Illinois baseball put together its second four-run first inning in the last three games, but the Panthers left 10 men on base and saw Belmont rally back for a 6-5 win Friday afternoon.
Belmont (4-0) scored a run in each of the first three innings and took the lead for good with a two-run sixth.
Eastern (0-4) nearly tied the game in the top of the ninth inning but
Cam Strang was cut down at home for the second out of the frame after a ground ball to second base on a drawn-in infield. The Panthers loaded the bases later in the inning but Belmont escaped the threat on a groundout to third base.
Eastern also had runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth inning, but pinch hitter
Ryan Dineen was called out on strikes with a full count.
The Panthers stranded at least one runner in scoring position in four of the final five frames and hit into an inning-ending double play in the sixth.
Daniel Rowe led off the seventh inning with a double but was left at third base as the potential tying run.
“The infield was in and we had the contact play on,” EIU head coach
Jim Schmitz of the play at the plate in the ninth inning. “It was a good bang-bang play, their guy made a nice play. We didn't get the ball in the air. With our team and the pitching, we're going to need to scratch out hits and runs. Situational hitting really cost us today.”
Zach Borenstein hit the first home run of the season by an EIU player, leading off the third inning with a long ball to right. It was his fifth career homer. He finished the day 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Eastern starter
Josh Mueller (0-1) surrendered six runs (four earned) on six hits through 5 2/3 innings. He gave up a pair of solo home runs, marking only the second time in his EIU career that he has given up multiple long balls in an outing. But it was three singles and a stolen base in the sixth inning that put the Bruins ahead. Burr Ridge, Ill., native Mark Noth delivered a two-out, two-run single to put his team in front and chase Mueller.
Mike Martin put together the top relief outing of the young season by a Panther. He worked 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and did not issue a walk. He picked off Noth at first base to end the sixth.
Each of the first six Panthers to come to the plate had a productive at-bat as EIU jumped ahead early. Borenstein and
Richie Derbak delivered run-scoring singles after Rowe walked and Strang was hit by a pitch to begin the game.
Ben Thoma also picked up an RBI when he reached on an error by the Belmont third baseman.
Shawn Ferguson capped the scoring in the inning when he came through with a sacrifice fly to left, plating Thoma.
But the Panthers managed only five hits the rest of the game. Two of those hits came in the ninth inning when Strang singled and Borenstein followed with an opposite-field double.
Curt Restko fell behind in the count 0-and-2 but was able to put the ball in play. While a ground ball to the right side with a runner on third typically plates a run, the infield playing in gave the Belmont second baseman enough time to throw out Strang at the plate. Derbak kept the inning alive with a walk but Ferguson's grounder to third led to an unassisted out that ended the game.
Belmont's Josh Davis (2-0) earned the win with 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He gave up only two hits and one walk while striking out four. The Panthers scored five runs (four earned) against starter Dane Swinehart in 2 2/3 innings.
The middle game of the series is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch Saturday. The probable pitching matchup is EIU's
Mike Recchia (Jr, RHP) vs. Belmont's Chase Brookshire (Fr, LHP).
