Box Score |
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Eastern Illinois rallied back from a five-run deficit and took an 11-10 lead over Kansas State, but the Wildcats scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to earn a 12-11 victory over the Panthers on Saturday.
Eastern Illinois dropped to 1-8 on the season following the loss, while Kansas State improved to 8-2 overall.
Eastern Illinois took an early lead on the Wildcats with a run in their first at-bats of the game on Saturday. Â
Matt Dunavant singled with two outs and made his way to third on a
Dougie Parks double down the left-field line. A fielding error by the Wildcats allowed Dunavant to move up the final 90-feet and gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
Kansas State knotted the score up in the bottom of the second inning with a two-out rally of their own. Grant Ruben started the rally with a double to left and came around to score later in the inning on an RBI single by Connor Rule.
The Panthers regained their lead in the top of the third inning as
Joseph Duncan hit a lead-off single and
Logan Beaman drew a walk to put a pair of runners on for Eastern Illinois. The pair moved up an extra 90-feet on a sacrifice bunt by Dunavant. The bunt by Dunavant proved beneficial as Parks hit his second double of the game to plate both Duncan and Beaman and gave the Panthers a 3-1 advantage.
Kansas State took advantage of three Eastern Illinois' errors and scored seven runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take an 8-3 lead.
Eastern Illinois cut the deficit in the sixth on a two-run home run by
Matt Albert. Kansas State quickly answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning on a Jake Scudder solo home run.
EIU produced a big inning of their own in the top of the seventh as Beaman laced a lead-off double down the left-field line to get the Panthers started. Dunavant followed with an RBI single to plate Beaman. The rally continued as
Frankie Perrone doubled to put runners on second and third. Albert drove the pair home on a two-run triple down the line in right.
Josh Turnock gave Eastern Illinois their first lead of the game since the third inning as his two-run home run put the Panthers ahead 10-9.
Steve Serratore knocked an RBI single for K-State in the bottom half of the seventh to tie the score at 10-10.
Duncan put EIU back out in front with a lead-off home run in the top of the eighth.
Trent McMaster came in as a pinch hitter and drew a lead-off walk to start the bottom of the ninth for K-State. Cameron Thompson followed with an RBI triple to tie the score at 11-11. Jake Wodtke hit the game-winning sacrifice fly to drive in Thompson and gave the Wildcats a 12-11 victory.
Michael Starcevich (0-1) took the loss for the Panthers allowing the final two runs of the game in 1.1 innings pitched.
Alex Stevenson and
Hunter Clark had solid relief appearances on the mound following starter
Michael McCormick. Stevenson allowed just two runs in 3.2 innings with four strikeouts.
Turnock led the EIU offense as he finished the day 3-for-5 at the plate. Duncan, Dunavant, Parks, Perrone, and Albert all finished with two hits each. Albert also drove in four runs.
Eastern Illinois and Kansas State will play their series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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