NORMAL, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (11-9, 2-4 OVC) defeated the Illinois State Redbirds (6-12, 0-0 MVC), 9-7.
Trey Sweeney went 4-4 with a home run in the victory of the in-state rival Redbirds.
Ryan Knernschield went 2-5 with three RBI in his first game back for EIU. The Panthers will host SEMO for a weekend series starting on Friday, Mar. 3, at Coaches Stadium.
QUICK HITS
- Ryan Ignoffo collected his first win of the season for the Panthers.
- Ignoffo pitched 1.2 innings with four K's.
- Alex Stevenson collected his third save of the season with three K's in the ninth inning.
- Lucas DiLuca went 2-3 with two runs and two walks.
- Logan Eickhoff went 2-5 with two runs, three RBI, and a triple.
- Trey Sweeny went 4-4 at the plate, recorded three RBI, knocked in a double, a home run, and two runs.
- Ryan Knernschield played in his first game since Mar. 2. He went 2-5 and recorded three RBI.
- Gunner Smith went 1-4 with a double.
GAME ONE
The Panthers started strong in Wednesday's game, putting up three runs early on the Redbirds. DiLuca got the Panthers rally started with a nine-pitch walk, followed by an Eickhoff bunt in which he reached first. This brought up the OVC's leader in RBI:
Trey Sweeney, who doubled into center field and scored one. Knernschield started his comeback with a single that scored Eickhoff and Sweeney to give EIU an early 3-0 lead.
Illinois State managed to tie the game up, heading into the third inning.
In the fourth, the Panthers managed their biggest offensive inning, in which they put up four more runs. Smith started the Panthers' offensive explosion with a double, followed by a
Christian Pena walk. The Panthers came down to their final out with two on base to put the hot bat of Eickhoff in the batter's box. Eickhoff came through with a triple to score the two runners. Sweeney hit a home run over the center-field fence to give the Panthers a 7-3 lead.
In the top of the sixth, the Panthers were able to put two on base with back-to-back walks from
Dane Toppel and DiLuca. The runners advanced on a balk to put both in scoring position. Eickhoff hit a grounder to the shortstop to score Toppel and put DiLuca at third. Sweeney walked, and Knernschield knocked in another with a single down the right-field line. The Panthers lead 9-5.
Ignoffo entered and shut the door on the Redbirds in the seventh and eighth innings. Stevenson closed the game out 9-7, giving EIU their ninth non-conference win of the season.
ON DECK
The Panthers will face Southeast Missouri for a weekend series in Charleston, Ill., at Coaches Stadium starting on Friday at 3 p.m. The schedule is subject to change due to the weather.Â
