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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The Eastern Illinois baseball team rallied back in the final inning, but the comeback fell short as they fell to Austin Peay, 8-7, on Sunday afternoon in the final game of the weekend series.

Trailing 8-5 with one out in the top of the ninth inning, the Panthers (7-18, 3-3 OVC) got within two on a Jake Samuels RBI double to right center. Gerik Wallsten grounded out on the following play to move Samuels to third before Matt Kucharski hit an RBI single to right field to get EIU within one (8-7). After Brad Schweigert reached on an Austin Peay error gave the Panthers runners on first and second, Zach Borenstein popped out to second base to end the comeback and drop the Panthers to 3-3 in Ohio Valley Conference action.

The Governors (12-13, 3-2 OVC) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before the Panthers retaliated in the top of the fourth to score three runs and get EIU within two (5-3).

Austin Peay added three more runs over the next three innings to take an 8-3 advantage. In the top of the seventh, Ben Thoma hit a solo home run to make the score 8-4. EIU added another run in the top of the eighth when Schweigert scored on a Cam Strang ground out.

EIU produced one more hit than (12-11) than Austin Peay and committed one less error (3-2). EIU left seven more runners on base (12-5) in the contest. 

"Our defense is something we pride our team on, but we were disappointed with ourselves this weekend," said Eastern Illinois head coach Jim Schmitz. "We dropped a few pop ups today had some mental errors. If we make some routine plays, it's a completely different ball game."

#T.J. McManus# led the Panthers at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs. Kucharski went 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI while Schweigert was 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Christian Slazinik (1-5) took the loss, surrendering three earned runs and six hits in 3.1 innings. The St. Louis, Mo., native also had one strikeout and one walk.

Chuck Edlin (1-0) posted the win as the junior went 2.2 innings with two strikeouts while not allowing a run. Tyler Childress paced the Austin Peay offense, going 3-for-4 with five RBIs and a run.

The Panthers return to action at home on Tuesday, April 5 against in-state rival Western Illinois at 3 p.m.