Photo Gallery | By
Sandy King
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (8-6, 0-1 OVC) fell 9-2 in the OVC and series opener against the Murray State Racers (5-7, 1-0 OVC). The Panthers struggled to find their rhythm on offense and had a hard day at the bump.
Trevor Nicholson started in today's game for the Panthers, pitching 5.1 innings, but couldn't find the zone, recording six walks. The Panthers will finish the weekend series in a double-header tomorrow, starting at 10:30 a.m.
QUICK HITS
- The Panthers managed six hits in the game.
- EIU finished the game with five different pitchers entering the game.
- Logan Eickhoff went 2-4 from the plate, recording an RBI.
- Keith Kerrigan hit a solo homer in the second inning to record his first of the season. Kerrigan also went 2-4 from the plate and scored a run.
- Lucas DiLuca managed three walks in today's game.
- Aaron Chao and Mitch Alba each pitched a no-hit inning in today's game.
- Four home runs were hit in the game today: three by Murray State and one by EIU.
GAME ONE
A beautiful day for baseball soon turned cold as the Murray State Racers struck in the opening inning of play. The Racers lead-off man, Jake Slunder, scored on a deep flyout to center field by Jordan Cozart to put the Racers up. Brock Anderson followed with a home run to give MSU a 2-0 lead early.
Kerrigan was able to follow the Anderson home run with a deep shot of his own over the right-center wall. The Panthers had cut into the lead in the second inning to put the Racers up 2-1.
The third and fourth inning went perfectly for Nicholson. In the third, the lefty went three-up three-down to get out of the inning with no batter getting the best of him. In the fourth, he struck out the first two batters and ended the inning with a flyout.
Murray State managed to put up three runs in the fifth inning due to Nicholson's loss of control.
Nick Laxner entered for the Panthers in the sixth inning. The Racers bats continued to find the ball, however, as Murray State put up two more runs to grow the lead to 7-1.
Two home runs in the seventh had continued to grow the lead for Murray State.
Jalen Cardinal entered in relief after a lead-off homer and let one a longshot to the next batter faced.
The Panthers were able to score again in the seventh inning from an Eickhoff single.
Chase Rademacher drew a walk to start the rally, as
Dane Toppel followed with a hit-by-pitch that put runners on first and second. DiLuca drew a walk to load the bases for Eickhoff, who hit a single into right-field. DiLuca was caught at second, but the Panthers had added a run to the score. The Racers held on and claimed the first win of the series.
