Box ScoreCAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Taking on one of the top teams in the Ohio Valley Conference and facing the reigning OVC pitcher of the year in Joey Lucchesi, the Eastern Illinois baseball team was in for a tough task in the series opener at Southeast Missouri on Friday night. Although the Panthers jumped ahead early with a run in the top of the first, the Redhawks responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning and never looked back and took game one of the series by a score of 15-1. The two teams will continue their series with a single game tomorrow starting at 2 p.m.
With the loss Eastern Illinois drops to 5-28 (1-12 OVC), while SEMO moves to 24-10 (14-2 OVC).
A lead-off single and an error by the SEMO right fielder put
Joseph Duncan on second base to start the game for EIU. A groundout moved Duncan up an extra 90 feet.
Mitch Gasbarro plated Duncan on the next play on an RBI groundout to give the Panthers an early 1-0 lead.
The lead would not last long for Eastern Illinois however as SEMO had runners on first and second with just one out in the bottom of the first. Garrett Gandolfo brought home the first run for SEMO with an RBI single through the right side. SEMO proceeded to load the bases after a hit-by-pitch. Hunter Leeper cleared the bases with a double to center and drove in three runs to give the Redhawks a 4-1 lead after one inning complete.
SEMO would not let up from there extending their lead to 8-1 after three innings played with a pair of runs in the second and third innings each.
After a scoreless fourth inning for both teams, SEMO struck again in the fifth inning with a lead-off home run by Dan Holst to put the score at 9-1.
SEMO tacked on five runs in the bottom of the sixth with four of the five runs coming from a grand slam by Gandolfo. Chris Osborne drove in the other run in the inning with an RBI double into left center as the Redhawks led 14-1.
The Redhawks scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth with a lead-off home run by Branden Boggetto.
Eastern Illinois had a runner reach base in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, but could not string a rally together against the SEMO bullpen.
Michael McCormick took the loss for the Panthers on the mound allowing eight runs in two innings of work.
Jason Scholl,
Frankie Perrone,
Dane Toppel, Duncan, and Gasbarro all recorded one hit each as the Panthers finished with five hits in the game.
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