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Eastern Illinois (17-30) vs Bradley (22-26)

Schedule
Tuesday, May 17 at 12 p.m.

Facility 
O'Brien Field (7,500) • Peoria, Ill.

GAME 48
The Panthers look to bounce back at Bradley on Tuesday afternoon after going 1-4 last week. The game is being held at O'Brien Field, home of the Peoria Chiefs. It will be the second time this season EIU has played in a minor league ballpark.

EIU is 17-30 on the year while Bradley sits at 22-26. The midweek contest with the Braves is the Panthers final tune up before closing out the regular season in a crucial OVC series at Southeast Missouri State on May 20-21.

THE BRADLEY SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers are 24-17 all-time against Bradley since EIU joined the Division I ranks in 1982. EIU is 8-9 in road games against the Braves. EIU head coach Jim Schmitz is 11-9 all-time versus the Braves with a 3-5 mark in road contests.

The Panthers are 1-7 in the last eight meetings between the two schools and are looking for their first road win over Bradley since a 10-9 win during the 2003 season.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW
The Panthers went 1-4 last week with their only win coming on the road against Saint Louis on May 10. EIU lost its final home game of the year to Illinois State last Wednesday before being swept by SIU Edwardsville on May 14-15 in a three-game weekend set.

Sophomore Nick Priessman was the only Panther to have a multi-hit game in the series with SIU Edwardsville, posting two hits in the first and last game of the series. EIU only hit .209 as a team last week and only managed to bat .179 against the Cougars.

Zach Borenstein paced the offense last week, hitting .333 (5-for-15) with three runs, a double and a home run. The Buffalo Grove, Ill., native was also 2-for-2 in stolen bases for the week.

The Panther pitching staff continued to keep its ERA low, posting a 3.38 ERA throughout the week with 26 strikeouts. RHP Troy Barton pitched a team-high eight innings last week in two appearances and one start. The Libertyville, Ill., native posted a 1.12 ERA with four strikeouts while only scattering four hits.

PANTHERS LEAD OVC IN ERA
The Panthers boast a 4.30 ERA, the best ERA in the OVC. EIU is familiar with being at the top of the conference in staff ERA as they have finished the regular-season with the best ERA two times in the last three seasons, leading the OVC in 2008 and 2010. EIU finished the 2009 campaign ranked second in ERA.

The Panthers have thrown 283 strikeouts to a conference-low 112 walks this season. EIU leads the conference in fewest hits (427) and runs allowed (233).

MCNEIL LEADS OVC IN ERA
Brent McNeil has a conference best 1.72 ERA on the year with 33 strikeouts in 47 innings of action. McNeil continues to pace the Panthers out of the bullpen as the senior now has a 0.38 ERA with a 3-1 record in his last 10 appearances, totaling 23.2 innings of work.

BULLPEN CONTRIBUTES TO CONFERENCE LEADING ERA
In the last five weeks – EIU's last 19 games – the Panther bullpen has posted a 2.34 ERA in 65.2 innings of relief work. The bullpen has posted 64 strikeouts to only 17 walks in that span.

BORENSTEIN, THOMA CLOSING IN ON MILESTONES
Juniors Zach Borenstein and Ben Thoma are inching closer to putting their names in the EIU career record book. Thoma is only two home runs away from being tied for 10th in career home runs while Borenstein remains five long balls away. Borenstein is only nine runs away from tying Kevin Seitzer for ninth place in career runs as the junior has amassed 128 runs throughout his career.