Box Score |
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Eastern Illinois baseball faced a tough task entering their mid-week contest on Tuesday as the Panthers went up against one of the hottest teams in the country in No. 26 Missouri. Missouri entered the game with a 10-game winning streak. Missouri used an early lead to lift them past the Panthers 10-1.
Eastern Illinois fell to 1-10 on the season, while Missouri improved to 11-1 overall and increased their winning streak to 11 games.
The Tigers took advantage of the windy playing conditions in the first inning as Robbie Glendinning hit a fly ball out to deep right that sailed over the wall for a solo home run and put Missouri ahead 1-0. Mizzou scored two more runs in the inning on a two-run single by Trey Harris.
Missouri added to their total in the bottom of the third inning. The Tigers got their first two runs on a two-run single by Chris Cornelius. Cornelius came around to score later in the inning on an RBI single by Kirby McGuire and put the host Tigers ahead 6-0.
Eastern Illinois chipped into the Missouri lead in the top of the fourth.
Dougie Parks singled to start the inning and found his way on third base following a pair of groundouts. Parks scampered the final 90-feet on a wild pitch to move the score to 6-1.
Missouri got the run back in the bottom half of the inning on an Alex Samples RBI groundout and extended their lead to 7-1.
After holding the Missouri offense scoreless for the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, the Tiger offense got to the Eastern Illinois bullpen for the final three runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth.
Logan Beaman (0-1) took the loss for the Panthers, allowing five runs in 2.2 innings in the first start on the mound of his Eastern Illinois career.
Michael Starcevich tossed two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, allowing just one hit and totaling three strikeouts.
Brent Stephens also threw a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Bryce Montes De Oca (1-0) earned his first win of the season for Missouri, allowing just the one run in five innings pitched.
Parks led the EIU offense as he finished the day 2-for-4 at the plate.
Andrew Curran and
Jimmy Govern recorded the other EIU hits.
The Panthers will open up their spring break road trip with a three-game series at Samford this weekend.
