Box Score |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Eastern Illinois baseball opened up their spring break trip in the state of Alabama under the lights at Samford on Friday night. The Bulldogs defeated the Panthers, 9-4, in the series opener between the two teams.
Eastern Illinois dropped to 1-11 overall as Samford improved to 7-5 on the season.
Austin Edens hit a solo home run on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the second inning and scored the first run of the game to give Samford a 1-0 lead. After a hit batter, Anthony Mulrine hit a two-run home run to extend the Bulldog lead to 3-0.
Matt Albert returned the favor in the top of the third frame as he knocked a solo home run on the first pitch he saw to lead off the inning and cut the Samford lead to 3-1.
The Panthers continued to chip away in the top of the fourth inning.
Logan Beaman hit a one-out double down the right-field line to give Eastern Illinois a runner in scoring position.
Dougie Parks followed the Beaman double with an RBI single and trimmed the deficit to one at 3-2.
Samford extended their lead to 9-2, scoring three runs in the fourth inning, one in the fifth, and two more in the sixth.
The Eastern Illinois' offense came back to life in the top of the seventh as
Ryan Knernschield worked a lead-off pinch-hit walk. Knernschield quickly came around to score on Albert's second home run of the contest, a two-run shot, as he became the first EIU player with two home runs in a single game since
Demetre Taylor hit a pair of home runs at Tennessee Tech during the 2015 season. That would be as close as the Panthers would get however as Samford took the series opener 9-4.
Alex Stevenson (1-1) was tagged with the loss as he allowed seven runs in four innings pitched.
Chase Thurston posted a pair of scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the Panthers.
Albert led the way for Eastern Illinois as he finished the game 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and three RBIs. Beaman ended 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
Eastern Illinois and Samford will continue their series on Saturday with first pitch set for 2 p.m.
