CHARLESTON, Ill. – Behind six RBIs on the day from Alex Gee and some solid pitching, Eastern Illinois baseball won both ends of a doubleheader with Southeast Missouri, 7-5 and 8-5, and in the process clinched a berth in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The Panthers (17-32, 11-11 OVC) and Redhawks (29-23, 12-9 OVC) are expected to meet again Wednesday in the 4-5 game of the tourney's opening round. The two teams will also square off Saturday for Senior Recognition Day at Coaches Staidum. Eastern has now won seven straight in the series dating back to 2008.

 

Gee connected for his first collegiate grand slam in the third inning of game one, his eighth home run of the season. He also delivered a two-run double in the fifth inning of the nightcap, extending the EIU lead to 4-1.

 

The Panthers never trailed on the day. Zach Borenstein connected for a two-strike, two-out home run, his team-leading 10th of the season, in the first inning of game one. He finished the day 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three walks. Southeast walked him on four pitches in front of Gee's grand slam.

 

Richie Derbak and Cam Strang each had two hits in both games. Derbak doubled three times and scored three times, moving into ninth place in two-baggers in EIU history. Strang doubled and scored EIU's first run of the nightcap and delivered a two-out, run-scoring single an inning later.

Mike Hoekstra (4-4) gave up only one unearned run through the first six innings of game two. He came up one out short of finishing off his complete-game effort, but did earn his fourth win of the season while extending his streak of consecutive innings pitched without a walk to 22. Hoekstra would have retired 11 consecutive SEMO hitters in order from the third through seventh innings if not for an error to open the fourth inning.

 

Southeast left 15 runners on base in game one, including five in the final two frames. Mike Recchia closed out the win, getting Brett Russell to fly out to center field with the bases loaded to end the eighth and striking out Michael Adamson with runners on first and second to end the game. It was Recchia's second save of the season, both coming against OVC opponents that have qualified for the tournament.

 

Josh Mueller (6-1) earned his 17th career win in game one, giving up only one earned run over six innings. He struck out six. Brent McNeil was the bridge from Mueller to Recchia, working an inning and two-thirds of one-run relief.

 

“We told the team wins are important, but we just need to play good baseball,” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “If this was six weeks ago, there's no way we win game one. They left 15 runners on. Our mentality back then was 'here we go again.' It's hard to explain to people, but that's really what it is. Everything is fine, everything is OK and so the results obviously are better. Even without Josh being real sharp today, we beat SEMO, who leads the league in hitting. Hoekstra, he's done it all year long. We put up seven and eight runs and if we keep doing that we'll be just fine.”

 

Jim Klocke broke the SEMO career RBI record with a run-scoring double off the right field fence in the third inning of game one. He also hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning of the nightcap. Tim Rupp and Jesse Tierney both finished the day 4-for-8 for the Redhawks.  

In game two, the Panthers scored five times on seven hits against SEMO starter Shae Simmons (3-2), who had only allowed five earned runs on 12 hits in 33 1/3 innings pitched this season. Eastern blew the nightcap open with back-to-back three-run rallies against the SEMO bullpen.

 

Kyle Guminey gave the Redhawks a chance to comeback in game one with four innings of two-hit relief after taking over for starter Nick Thomas (6-3). Guminey allowed an inherited base runner to score in the fifth but retired 11 of the final 12 EIU hitters he faced.

 

With game one tied 1-1 in the third inning, Curt Restko was hit by a pitch with one out. With Restko in motion on a hit-and-run, Derbak followed with a double down the left field line. Thomas threw four pitches well off the outside corner to give Borenstein first base. The first swing of Gee's at-bat produced a popup that landed only a few feet out of play by the EIU dugout. Gee went deep to left center two pitches later, his grand slam to left being the second slam of the season by a Panther.

 

After SEMO made it a one-run game with three runs in the fifth, EIU answered with a two-spot in the bottom half of the frame. Derbak led off with a double and Borenstein and Gee both drew walks to load the bases. Strang followed with a fly ball single down the left field line, knocking in Derbak. Borenstein collided with SEMO third base Casey Jones while rounding the bag, but was not allowed to score on a possible obstruction call. He was able to trot home when Ryan Dineen grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

 

Recchia walked the first batter he faced on four pitches to load the bases with EIU clinging to a 7-5 lead in the eighth inning. But after falling behind in the count to Brett Russell, Recchia battled back and got Russell to fly out to center field.

 

Recchia struck out the first and final batters of the ninth but gave up back-to-back hits in between, allowing SEMO to bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate. Kenton Parmley hit a ball hard to left field but it hung up and Restko was able to catch it a few feet in front of the warning track.

 

“[Recchia] has no fear of failing and that's just what makes him so good,” Schmitz said. “So even though it was a hairy situation, we went to the scripts and everyone was in the dugout going 'OK,' versus 'what are we trying now.' And that's what we were dealing with earlier in the year. We're going to play that card and see where it takes us.”

 

In game two, the Panthers scored in four of the final five innings in which they came to bat. Ben Thoma gave EIU the lead in the second with a base hit through the left side, plating Strang after he opened the inning with an opposite-field double.

 

An inning later, Borenstein, Gee and Strang strung together three consecutive two-out singles to give EIU the lead back. Southeast had tied it on a Klocke sac fly in the top of the third.

 

Restko and Borenstein were both aboard via walks when Gee chased Simmons with a two-run double down the left field line. Dineen later delivered a two-out, run-scoring single to right center.

 

Matt Kucharski led off the sixth inning with a walk. After a single by Restko, Derbak and Borenstein both plated insurance runs with a base hit and an opposite-field double, respectively.

 

Southeast didn't go quietly in the final frame of the seven-inning nightcap, scoring four times with two outs. With two runners aboard, Michael Adamson doubled down the left field line. Klocke followed with a two-run homer to left center to chase Hoekstra. Eastern reliever Dillon Roark went 3-0 on Jones but came back to strikeout SEMO's cleanup hitter to end the game.

Scott Foley, Derbak, Gee and Restko will be honored prior to the 1 p.m. first pitch of Saturday's regular-season and series finale. All four seniors are four-year members of the program. With the game having no impact on EIU's OVC standing or tourney seeding, the Panthers are expected to throw multiple pitchers.