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TAMPA – Freshmen Troy Barton and Brian Hannig teamed up for 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, but it came after Eastern Illinois baseball had already fallen behind early and the Panthers lost the series finale at South Florida, 8-5, Sunday afternoon.
Eastern (3-10) won the series by taking both games of Saturday's doubleheader. The Panthers continue their spring break trip with four neutral-site games at the RussMatt Invitational, beginning with a Tuesday morning contest against Army.
South Florida (4-12) scored all of its eight runs in the first three innings, including a four-run first.
Eastern didn't get on the board until the fourth but did manage to score in four consecutive innings, all five runs scoring with two outs. The Panthers also brought the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth.
“Yesterday was a very long day and I was very pleased with everything about those games,” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said, recapping the weekend series. “In game two, they hit a two-run homer to tie it up and we came right back and scored. Those are the kind of games we have lost early on this season. So it was great to see us come up with the big hits and the big pitches yesterday. We made some real good plays for a good doubleheader win against a good team. They're much older than last year and have two quality arms.
“Today we dug ourselves a hole. But Troy and Brian did a great job and held them and we were able to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth. It is still a loss but I was pleased with how we battled back to get back into it.”
Shawn Ferguson accounted for three of EIU's eight hits. Ryan Dineen came through with a two-out, two-run double in the sixth inning.
Barton pitched two innings of scoreless relief, taking over for starter Brent McNeil (0-2) with two outs in the third. Hannig put together the best outing of his young EIU career with 3 1/3 innings of one-hit relief. He retired the first man he faced with the bases loaded in the fifth, getting the No. 3 hitter in the USF lineup to fly out to end the inning.
McNeil gave up eight runs on nine hits through 2 2/3 innings. He was also charged with a pair of throwing errors on failed pickoff attempts. South Florida connected for a two-run double and a two-run homer off him in the first two innings, respectively.
Daniel Rowe walked and Ferguson singled in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate. South Florida closer Kevin Quackenbush struck out Zach Borenstein and got pinch hitter Nick Priessman to ground into a game-ending fielder's choice.
Richie Derbak and Ferguson delivered two-out, run-scoring singles in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively. Borenstein scored on Derbak's base hit after doubling earlier in the frame. However, Borenstein was retired with a runner in scoring position in each of his final three at-bats.
Alex Gee and Cam Strang were aboard thanks to two-out walks when Dineen doubled to left center. Strang scored from first on the gapper.
Doubles from Ferguson and Ben Thoma led to EIU's final run in the seventh.
Tuesday's game with Army is slated for a 9 a.m. (CDT) first pitch at Henley Field in Lakeland, Fla.
