Box Score |
Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois took a three-run lead after the second inning and cruised the rest of the way as the Panthers defeated Lindenwood-Belleville, 8-5, on Wednesday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.
Eastern Illinois, winners of three-straight, improved their record to 10-27. Lindenwood-Belleville dropped to 25-20 following the loss.
Matt Albert got the offense rolling for the Panthers with a lead-off double in the second inning. After advancing to third on a fly out, Ryan Kernernschield drove in Albert with an RBI single to center.
Andrew Curran followed with a base knock of his own to put runners on first and second.
Joseph Duncan brought home the two base runners with a two-run triple and put the Panthers ahead, 3-0.
Lindenwood-Belleville finally got to EIU starter
Devin Rose in the third as the Lynx had runners on second and third with just one out in the inning. Alex Wittenauer brought home the first run in the inning with an RBI groundout. Cory Lubinski brought the Lynx within a run with an RBI single to right field.
Dougie Parks got the two runs back for the Panthers as he hit a solo home run in both the third and fifth innings. The two home runs marked the second-straight two-home run game for Parks.
The Lynx made things interesting late with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, but the Panthers answered right back in the eighth. After
Nicholas McCormick singled to lead off the inning,
Josh Turnock worked a walk to put a pair of runners on.
Hunter Clark came on as a pinch runner for McCormick as both he and Turnock came around to score on a Curran two-run triple. Duncan supplied the Panthers with another run on a sacrifice fly to center and put EIU up, 8-4.
After Lindenwood-Belleville put a run across in the top of the ninth,
Michael Starcevich came into the game and threw one pitch to record the final out in the contest and earned his fourth save of the season.
Rose picked up his first win on the mound for the Panthers as he allowed just two runs over the course of five innings.
Curran led the way for the Panthers as he finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. Duncan and Parks both added two hits each for Eastern Illinois.
The Panthers will look to keep their winning streak alive as they host Eastern Kentucky in a three-game Ohio Valley Conference this weekend at Coaches Stadium.
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