Live Stats | RussMatt Invitational

Opponent Sites: Army | Akron | Indiana | Ohio State

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois baseball continues its annual spring break trip with four neutral-site games this week, taking on four different teams in four consecutive days at the RussMatt Invitational in Central Florida.

 

The Panthers square off against Army Tuesday at 9 a.m., Akron Wednesday at 10 a.m., Indiana Thursday at 2 p.m. and No. 27 Ohio State Friday at 9 a.m. (all times Central). Army, Indiana and Ohio State all participated in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

 

The RussMatt Invitational, which runs from February through April, features hundreds of teams from all three levels of NCAA competition as well as NAIA schools and junior colleges.

 

Eastern will play Akron (8-6) and Ohio State (9-4) at Chain of Lakes Stadium in Winter Haven, Fla. The game against Army (5-3) is set for Henley Field in Lakeland, Fla., and the Panthers take on Indiana (5-9) at Lake Myrtle Stadium in Auburndale, Fla. All three communities are located along the Interstate 4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando.

 

Eastern has not played four different teams in four consecutive days since winning the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Additionally, should there be no weather cancelations over the next two weeks, EIU could end up playing eight consecutive games against eight different teams. That stretch would culminate with the conference-opening series at Eastern Kentucky the weekend of March 27-28.

 

“The big thing this week is being in the games mentally, because these games can be tough to get up for,” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “It's a new team every day and they're early games. The scouting reports can be tough. I'll switch up the lineup at least once, probably against Akron. [Ryan] Dineen has answered the bell [at second base]. And I'm leaning toward [Shawn] Ferguson in center field. He has the most upside with the bat. But I'm still trying to find that right combination where everybody on the bench is like yep, that's the team we need out there.”

 

Last season, the Panthers defeated Indiana at Henley Field and lost to Bradley at Chain of Lakes Park.

 

Henley Field was the spring training home of the Detroit Tigers from 1934-66. Florida Southern, an NCAA Division II team, currently plays its home games at the 87-year-old stadium.

 

Chain of Lakes Park features numerous fields, which the Cleveland Indians (1993-2008) and Boston Red Sox (1966-92) have both previously used for spring training.

 

Lake Myrtle Stadium is the main venue of a new complex that also features four adjacent fields.

 

Eastern opened its spring break trip by winning two-of-three at South Florida, improving to 5-1 over the last two seasons at Red McEwen Field in Tampa. But at 3-10 this year, EIU still has some work to do to make it a successful spring break trip.

 

Mike Martin (vs. Army), Troy Barton (vs. Akron), Mike Recchia (vs. Indiana) and Mike Hoekstra (vs. Ohio State) are expected to start on the mound this week for the Panthers. All four pitchers made appearances in the doubleheader sweep at USF Saturday. Barton also pitched two innings of scoreless relief Sunday.

 

Schmitz said Josh Mueller will be skipped in the rotation again this week with the goal of having him ready to start the OVC opener at Eastern Kentucky next weekend. Mueller has not pitched since March 5 at UAB due to a sore shoulder.

 

Recchia and Hoekstra were efficient in their starts Saturday at USF, keeping EIU in the game and helping setup the doubleheader sweep. But Barton was the team's most effective pitcher last week. The freshman appeared in three of the four games, working a combined 6 1/3 scoreless innings. He got the biggest out of the weekend late Saturday night when he retired the No. 2 hitter in the USF lineup with the bases loaded and the Panthers clinging to a two-run lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

 

Alex Gee enjoyed a productive series in Tampa thanks to his patience at the plate. The senior reached base safely in nine of his 14 plate appearances. He drew two walks in all three games and scored five times in the series. Gee also made the most of his three hits, connecting for a pair of solo homers.

 

“To be a good hitter you've got to get a good pitch to hit,” Schmitz said. “Gee has shown he's not going to swing at bad pitches. I like to say, 'how you take is how you hit.' That's what I've been telling [Zach] Borenstein, [Ben] Thoma and [Richie] Derbak – they're the middle of the lineup guys. They're there to drive in runs and so they get the junk pitches – sliders, change ups, etc. If the scouting reports say they're chase guys, they're going to keep seeing a lot of junk. If we can get the four middle guys to get good pitches, we'll be fine.”

 

Army is expected to start a junior lefthander Joey Henshaw Tuesday. Other opposing starting pitchers will be posted here at EIUpanthers.com when they become available.

 

Tuesday: Mike Martin (So, RHP) vs. Army's Joey Henshaw (Jr, LHP)

Wednesday: Troy Barton (Fr, RHP) vs. Akron's Scott Foster (So, LHP)

Thursday: Mike Recchia (Jr, RHP) vs. IU's Jerrud Sabourin (Jr, LHP)

Friday: Mike Hoekstra (So, RHP) vs. OSU's Brett McKinney (Fr, RHP)

 

 

Army (5-3 as of March 14): The Black Knights opened their spring break trip March 13 with a win against Long Island and play at the University of Florida Monday night… Army was the preseason favorite in the Patriot League after winning a share of the regular-season title and the Patriot League championship series in 2009… at the 2009 NCAA Austin Regional, the Black Knights won two games and also took a lead into the bottom of the ninth of the Regional finale against Texas… Army welcomed back five All-Patriot League honorees, including infielders Kevin McKague (first base), Zach Price (second base) and Clint Moore (shortstop).

 

Akron (8-6 as of March 15): The Zips had their spring break opener on March 12 canceled but have won five straight games after defeating Hartford Monday afternoon… Akron was picked fifth in the six-team East Division of the Mid-American Conference after posting a 19-33 record in 2009… Drew Turocy is the team's top all-around player, leading the team with a .424 average and 18 RBIs at the plate; he also serves as the team's closer, striking out 10 and recording three saves in his five relief appearances… all nine players in the starting lineup in Monday's win against Hartford had at least one hit and one RBI.

 

Indiana (5-9 as of March 15): The Hoosiers lost to Miami (Ohio) at the University of Florida March 13 in their spring break opener… Indiana played well at Vanderbilt's tournament the first weekend of March, defeating Illinois State and Kent State while also taking the host Commodores to extra innings… left fielder Alex Dickerson, the 2009 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, leads the team with six home runs and 15 RBIs… the Hoosiers won the 2009 Big Ten Tournament, winning four games by a combined 47-9 margin, and played in the NCAA Louisville Regional.

 

#27 Ohio State (9-4 as of March 14): The Buckeyes begin their spring break trip with Friday's game against EIU… Ohio State is idle this week after losing two-of-three at a tournament hosted by the University of Tennessee the weekend of March 12-14… the Buckeyes are ranked 27th nationally by Collegiate Baseball… Ohio State is the defending Big Ten Conference regular-season champion and features the 2009 Big Ten Player (catcher Dan Burkhart) and co-Pitcher of the Year (Alex Wimmers)… Burkhart is batting .378 with a team-high 14 walks; Wimmers is 4-0 with a 2.00 ERA and .214 batting average against.