LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Eastern Illinois baseball (1-2) dropped the third game in their three game series against Arkansas-Little Rock (2-1) by a score of 11-4. Left fielder
Nathan Aide had two hits during game three including an RBI single to center field. Starting pitcher
Hayden Birdsong threw two innings, allowing four earned runs, two walks, and struck out two.
QUICK STATS:
Nathan Aide - 2 for 3, RBI
Dalton Doyle - 1 for 3, RBI, R
Ryan Ignoffo - 1 for 3, SB
Logan Eickhoff - 0 for 3, RBI, R
Hayden Birdsong - L (0-1), 2.0 IP, 2 K, 4 ER, 2 BB
Kyle Lang - 3.2 IP, 4 K, 6 ER
EIU was held scoreless in the top of the first inning. Birdsong started the bottom of the inning with two walks and a strikeout which led to a three-run homerun for the Trojans from Noah Dickerson to open up the scoring at 3-0.
Little Rock added another run in the second from a single through the infield. The Panthers would then score three runs in the third to get them on the board.
Lincoln Riley was walked with one out and proceed to steal second.
Lucas DiLuca reached on a throwing error to place runners at the corners. Eickhoff grounded into a fielder's choice to score Riley from third to give the Panthers their first run. Doyle got his first hit of the season to score Eickhoff from second, and Aide hit a single to right center for the Panther's third run of the inning.
Both teams went scoreless in the fourth inning with Kang striking out two for the Panthers. The Trojans extended their lead in the fifth with a three run innings. Jake Wright hit a two-run inside the park homerun for Little Rock to extend their lead to 8-3.
Aide collected his second hit of the game in the sixth, while the Trojans added another two runs on four hits. They would go on to score another run in the bottom half of the seventh on a double by Jack Stroth off of
Nick Laxner.
In the top of the eighth,
Dylan Drumke started the inning with a walk.Â
Ja'Lil Akbar then reached on a fielder's choice, and Ignoffo singled to left field to put Panthers on first and second.
Trevor Davis reached first on a fielding error which loaded the bases for Worcester who hit into a fielder's choice to score Akbar.
The Panthers ended the game with four runs on four hits while the Trojans posted 11 runs on 16 hits.
EIU will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 25 as they travel to Stephenville, Texas to take on Tarleton State for a four game series.
