Box Score
MARTIN, Tenn. – After Eastern Illinois and UT Martin split the first two games in their series, the two teams came together for the rubber game to decide a series winner on Sunday. The Panthers looked to rally late, but a four-run eighth inning by the Skyhawks put the game out of reach as UT Martin took the series following a 10-5 win on Sunday. Eastern Illinois drops to 11-39 (5-22 OVC). UT Martin improves to 18-32 (9-18 OVC). EIU will be back in action tomorrow at Coaches Stadium as they host Butler at 3 p.m.
The Panthers broke into the scoring column first in the top of the third inning with a two-out rally.
Joseph Duncan singled and quickly found his way to third base after stealing second and advancing up another 90 feet on a throwing error by the UT Martin catcher.
Cale Hennemann found himself in a hitter's count and singled up the middle to plate Duncan and gave Eastern Illinois a 1-0 lead.
The lead did not last long however as UT Martin answered back with six runs in the bottom half of the third inning, capped off by a grand slam from Fletcher Johnson to take a 6-1 advantage.
Eastern Illinois would begin to cut into the UT Martin lead the next half inning. With runners on first and second,
Tyler Tesmond doubled down the left field line to score the Panthers' first run in the top of the fourth. Later in the inning,
Hunter Morris hit a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to score
Jason Scholl and shrank the margin to 6-3.
With the game at a standstill in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, the Panthers' bats came alive again in the top of the eighth. The inning got started with a
Demetre Taylor and a
Frankie Perrone hit-by-pitch. After UT Martin got the next two batters out swinging, the Skyhawks looked as if they would escape the threat put on by the Panthers. That was until
Nick Maton stepped up to the plate. Maton singled to left to score Taylor, and as the throw was relayed home, the UT Martin catcher mishandled the ball at the plate, and allowed Perrone to slide in safely to cut the deficit once more to 6-5.
UT Martin pulled away once more in the bottom of the eighth, scoring four runs on six hits to take a 10-5 lead into the final frame.
Eastern Illinois would manage to put runners on first and second in the top of the ninth but an unassisted double play would end the game and give UT Martin a 10-5 win in the series finale.
Chase Thurston suffered the loss on the mound for the Panthers, allowing four runs in 2.2 innings pitched.
Hennemann, Taylor, and Maton paced the offense, recording two hits each.
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