Photo Gallery | By
Sandy King
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (11-10, 2-5 OVC) fell in the opening game of the series to Southeast Missouri (11-9, 5-2 OVC), 3-2.
Ryan Knernschield went 2-4 at the plate and pushed both Panther runs through with his two hits.
Ky Hampton was awarded the loss, but the Aussie had arguably his best outing of the season. He pitched eight innings, recorded five strikeouts, and managed 14 groundouts. The Panthers will finish the series tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.
QUICK HITS
GAME ONE
The Panthers kicked off the game strong, scoring a run in the first inning of play. DiLuca got the line moving early with an infield single. Eickhoff advanced the runner on a groundout, and Sweeney followed with a walk. Knernshield stepped up to the plate for the Panthers and delivered a hit past the shortstop to score DiLuca.Â
Hampton delt two scoreless before giving up the first Redhawk run of the game. Hampton allowed a hit to the leadoff batter, and in an attempt to pick the runner off, threw the ball past Christiana Pena to put a runner on third. A groundout scored the unearned run for SEMO. The game had been tied, 1-1.
Eickhoff got the Panthers' next rally going with an infield single. Eickhoff stole second to take the double-play out of the picture. Knernschield ripped a single up the middle to score Eickhoff and recapture the lead, 2-1.
In the eighth inning, as Hampton's pitch count neared the 100 mark, Tyler Wilbur of the Redhawks belted a homer that plinked off the top of the fence in right-center field to tie the game up. The following batter walked and stole second base to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Austin Blazevic sent a deep shot to the wall to score the game-winning run for Southeast Missouri. The Panthers were unable to reclaim the lead and fell 3-2.
ON DECK
Eastern Illinois will finish the weekend series against SEMO with a doubleheader on Mar. 27, starting at 11 a.m.
