CHARLESTON, Ill. – On a day in which there were eight home runs hit at Coaches Stadium, Alex Gee's three-run shot with two outs in the seventh inning put Eastern Illinois baseball ahead to stay in a 9-5 rubber game victory against Morehead State Sunday afternoon.

Brent McNeil (1-3) earned his first win as a Panther with 3 2/3 innings of one-run relief.

 

Morehead (18-17, 2-4 OVC) scored twice in each of the first two innings to take an early 4-0 run lead. But EIU starter Josh Mueller and McNeil teamed for five consecutive scoreless frames, giving the Panthers a chance to rally. Eastern (9-21, 4-5 OVC) went on to score eight unanswered runs to improve to 39-5 against the Eagles as an Ohio Valley Conference member.

“I told the team this might be one of the bigger wins we've had in a long time,” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “Each team needs a big win like this. This is a perfect game, and I really mean that in terms of a comeback victory. We couldn't have done it any better. They smoked us in game one (Saturday), and we came back [to win the series]. We're really kind of a relaxed team compared to my last couple of teams. I told them that was their strength, and now they've got to play good, too. I wish it would have happened four weeks ago but it didn't, and now we're starting to put things in place.”

Gerik Wallsten connected for solo home runs to leadoff the third and fifth innings, posting his first career multi-homer game. Zach Borenstein hit a solo shot in the eighth, his team-leading sixth of the season, to tack on an insurance run.

 

J.D. Ashbrook went deep twice for Morehead, including a leadoff home run to begin the game. Luke Bainer and Andrew Deeds also connected for solo homers.

 

Entering the day, there had been only four home runs hit in the first seven games at Coaches Stadium this season. But the wind was non-existent on this day, coinciding with another glorious afternoon of sunshine and temperatures in the 70s. The Panthers posted a 5-2 record during their seven-game homestand.

Curt Restko extended his career best hitting streak to 13 consecutive games with a bunt single in the seventh inning. He was ruled safe on a close play at first base and the hit ignited a four-run rally.

 

The Panthers were active on the base paths for much of the day, utilizing numerous hit-and-runs. The most significant was a hit-and-run play with Restko on first base and Borenstein at the plate in the seventh. Morehead shortstop Drew Lee broke to cover second base and Borenstein hit a chopper to the vacated spot of the infield. Lee was able to field the ball but Borenstein easily beat the throw to first base.

 

Morehead reliever Matthew Robertson was able to retire Ben Thoma on a fly ball to left, but Gee delivered in the clutch with his third home run of the season. The three-run shot to left center broke a 4-4 tie.

 

Had Restko been called out or Borenstein's chopper led to at least a fielder's choice, the inning may have not been extended to Gee's spot in the order.

After Wallsten's homer to open the fifth inning, Daniel Rowe was hit by a pitch and Borenstein walked to chase MSU starter Tyler Hieneman. The hit-and-run was on again and Thoma hit the first pitch he saw from Robertson through the left side for a game-tying single.

 

Gee also made a pair of key plays to help EIU score a run in the fourth inning. He led off the frame with a double and smartly tagged up and reached third base on the subsequent fly ball to center off the bat of Richie Derbak. Cam Strang was then able to execute a squeeze bunt to score his teammate, pushing the ball up the first base line nicely and nearly beating out the play at first.

 

Following Gee's homer in the seventh, Derbak doubled on a blooper down the left field line. Strang's ensuing ground ball to shortstop got through Lee, allowing Derbak to score EIU's fourth run of the inning.

 

Mueller gave up four runs on eight hits through 4 1/3 innings. He struck out six, including two batters in each of the first two innings. He gave way to McNeil after issuing his lone walk of the day with one out in the fifth.

 

McNeil stranded that inherited base runner and pitched over a two-out single in the sixth and a leadoff walk in the seventh. He ended the seventh by picking off Lee at first base, his team-leading seventh pickoff of the year.

 

Dillon Roark gave up a double and a walk in the ninth, but regrouped and retired the No. 3 and 4 hitters in the Morehead lineup with two aboard to close out the victory.

“The team knows when Brent goes out there he's going to shut them down,” Schmitz said. “Roark is going to go in and do what he did. The pitchers came in and shut the door. [Mike] Recchia did his job yesterday. As bad as Mike was, he got us into the seventh. If I had to put McNeil in yesterday in the fourth or fifth, maybe we don't win this.”

 

Hieneman was efficient early, giving up only two hits his first time through the EIU lineup. But the Panthers' first hitter of the third, fourth and fifth innings connected for an extra-base hit against him and ended up scoring. His final line was four runs on four hits over 4 1/3 innings.

Eastern returns to action Tuesday for a 6 p.m. midweek game at Illinois. The Panthers have won three of the last four vs. the Fighting Illini dating back to 2006.