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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Redshirt-senior Ben Thoma hit two home runs and drove in three runners to lead the Panther baseball team over Illinois College, 10-3, on Wednesday afternoon at Coaches Stadium. EIU improves to 13-17 on the year.
 
“One of the goals for the day was to get Ben Thoma and Trent Whitcomb going on offense,” said Eastern Illinois head coach Jim Schmitz. “Getting those guys on track today was positive for our team.”
 
After giving up an early run to the Blue Boys in the top of the second inning, Dane Sauer hit a three RBI double to left centerfield in the bottom of the frame to give EIU a 3-1 lead. Illinois College got within one (3-2) in the top of the following inning on a Brian Boeving RBI double before the Panthers pushed their advantage to two ( 4-2) in the bottom of the frame on a solo home run by Thoma.
 
EIU added a run in both the fourth and fifth innings to take a 6-2 lead before scoring four more runs in the eighth, making the score 10-2. Trent Whitcomb posted his first career home run in the eighth with a two-run shot down the right-field line to score two runs before Thoma hit his second home run of the day later in the inning with a two-RBI blast to left centerfield.
 
The Panthers recorded seven more hits (14-7) than the Blue Boys, but committed one more error (4-3) on the day. Illinois College left 10 runners on base to EIU's seven stranded base runners.
 
Thoma paced the Panther offense as he went 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs. Brad Schweigert went 2-for-5 with two runs and a stolen base in his first game of the season after recovering from an injury. Cameron Berra also added three hits, a run and an RBI.
 
Matt Borens (1-0) posted his first career win in a Panther uniform, striking out two and allowing two runs (one earned) in four innings of action. Scott Houdek, Keith Koser and George Kalousek combined for six strikeouts and only two hits in the final five innings.
 
“I was also really happy with Scott Houdek,” said Schmitz. “He hasn't got a ton of innings lately, but his pitching was sharp and did some neat things this afternoon. Keith Koser looked really good as well, bouncing back from a minor injury last weekend.”
 
Nate Jones (2-3) took the loss for Illinois College, surrendering three runs and five hits in two innings. A total of seven pitchers saw action for the Blue Boys on the afternoon. Offensively, Boeving led the way as he went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
 
The Panthers return to action on April 13-15 at Eastern Kentucky in an Ohio Valley Conference series.