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HAMMOND, La.  – The Eastern Illinois baseball team dropped the first game of the weekend series at Southeastern Louisiana, 10-1, on Friday night at Alumni Field. EIU falls to 1-2 on the year while SE Louisiana remains undefeated at 5-0.
 
The Lions scored nine of its 10 runs in the first four innings, building a lead that EIU could not overcome and take the first contest of the three-game series.  Redshirt-senior David Ciaglia hit an RBI double down the right-field line in the top of the eighth inning to score classmate Ben Thoma and give the Panthers their lone run of the game. Southeastern Louisiana would tack on one more run in the bottom of the inning on a Ryan Dowing RBI.
 
Freshman Brant Valach paced the Panthers at the plate, going 2-for-3. Ciaglia, Caleb Howell and Nick Priessman all added a hit in the loss.
 
The Panthers were out hit by five (10-5) on Friday night while also committing two more errors (3-1) than the Lions. Both squads left nine runners on base in the contest.
 
Sophomore Christian Slazinik (1-1) took the loss for EIU, allowing eight runs (five earned) and six hits in 2.1 innings of action. Luke Bushur and Scott Houdek combined for three strikeouts and two earned runs in the final 5.2 innings.
 
Joseph Koon (2-0) recorded the win, striking out three batters and limiting the Panthers to only three hits in six innings. Cody Gougler led the Lions at the plate as he was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Brett Hoffman added two runs and RBI.
 
The Panthers return to action on Saturday, Feb. 25 in the second game of the series at Southeastern Louisiana. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.