EIU Game Notes | Watch Live (subscription required) | EIU Baseball on Facebook

Eastern Illinois (1-7) vs. Alabama (8-5) 

Schedule
Friday, March 11 at Alabama - 6:05 p.m. | Live Stats
Saturday, March 12 at Alabama - 2:05 p.m. | Live Stats
Sunday, March 13 at Alabama - 1:05 p.m. | Live Stats

Facility 
Sewell-Thomas Stadium (6,571) • Tuscaloosa, Ala.

GAMES 9-11
The Panthers snapped a six-game losing skid to open the season by defeating Evansville 7-4 on Sunday, March 6 in the first game of the doubleheader. EIU fell 4-1 in the second game to move its overall record to 1-7. EIU was also slated to face Northwestern at The Dunn Hospitality Diamond Classic last weekend, but poor weather conditions forced the cancelation of all the games except the EIU/Evansville doubleheader.

The Panthers open their spring break trip with a three-game series with Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 11-13 before playing a single-game with Mississippi State on March 15. The trip concludes with a three-game series at Memphis on March 18-20.

ALABAMA SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers and the Crimson Tide have only met on the baseball field one time, coming on March 17, 1998. EIU was defeated 22-1.

The Panthers have never faced the Crimson Tide in any other major team sport other than baseball as both men's and women's basketball, football and softball have never competed against Alabama.

AGAINST THE SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
The Panthers are 2-29 all-time against teams from the Southeastern Conference. EIU's two wins are against Arkansas and Kentucky. The Panthers defeated the Wildcats in a 10 inning affair on March 1, 2003 by a score of 4-3. EIU beat the Razorbacks 5-4 on Feb. 21, 1998.

The last time the Panthers faced an opponent from the SEC was on Feb. 25, 2005 at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs took both games of the doubleheader, defeating EIU 3-1 and 16-6. The Panthers will face Mississippi State this season after their three-game series with Alabama in a single-game contest on March 15 in Starksville, Miss., at 6:30 p.m.

SCOUTING ALABAMA
The Crimson Tide is off to a 8-4 start to the 2011 season, winning four consecutive games to start the year. Alabama dropped its next four contests before winning its last four via a series sweep of Northwestern State and an extra inning contest with Troy.

Jared Reaves leads the offense with a team-best .419 batting average, 18 hits and 19 RBIs. Taylor Dugas has a .349 batting average with a team-best 15 runs and eight doubles. Nine different players have at least three RBIs on the season while 14 players have at least one RBI.

The Crimson Tide pitching staff boats a 3.82 ERA led by Tucker Hawley and Nathan Kilcrease. Hawley is 2-1 on the year with a 3.18 ERA while Kilcrease has a 2-0 record with a 3.12 ERA. The pitching staff has combined for 98 strikeouts and only 38 walks.

PITCHING STAFF NEAR TOP OF OVC IN ERA
The EIU pitching staff is currently ranked third in the Ohio Valley Conference in ERA with a 4.43 ERA. The Panthers are right behind Jacksonville State with a 4.21 ERA. EIU is holding its opponents to a .278 batting average which also ranks third in the conference. The Panthers lead the conference in hits allowed (70) and runs allowed (42).

Mike Hoekstra (1-2) paces the rotation with a 5.27 ERA in a team-high 13.2 innings of work. The Lansing, Ill., native has a team-best 12 strikeouts on the year. Freshman Luke Bushur (0-1) has made two starts and four appearances, posting 10 strikeouts.

Relief pitchers Brent McNeil and Troy Barton have also been reliable out of the bullpen. McNeil has a team-best 1.54 ERA in 11.2 innings of action with four strikeouts to only one walk. Barton has a 1.80 ERA with seven strikeouts in four appearances.

FERGUSON PACES PANTHERS AT THE PLATE
Senior Shawn Ferguson is having a great start to his senior season, batting a team-best .450 at the plate after only hitting .247 a year ago. The outfielder is batting .556 (5-for-9) with runners on base and has collected two, two-out RBIs on the season.

The South Bend, Ind., native hit .500 in EIU's two games at Evansville last weekend, going 4-for-8 with three doubles.

OFFENSIVE WOES
The Panthers are batting a mere .223 on the season, ranking last in the OVC. EIU is the only team in the conference without a home run on the year. The Panthers are last in runs scored (18), hits (58) and RBIs (16).

Through eight games, EIU is being out scored by 24 (42-18) and out hit by 12 (70-58). Panther opponents also have 20 more RBIs (36-16). 

HEAD COACH JIM SCHMITZ CLOSING IN ON MILESTONE
Eastern Illinois head baseball coach Jim Schmitz is closing in on his 600th career head coaching victory. The Wilmington, Ohio, native has amassed a 594-591 record in 23 seasons as a head coach. Schmitz owns a 430-430 record in 16 seasons at EIU and accumulated 164 wins between stints at Cincinnati (1987-90) and Wilmington College (1984-86).