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Eastern Illinois (10-3, 0-0. OVC) at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3-9-1, 0-0 SWAC)
Pine Bluff, Ark. | Torii Hunter Baseball Complex

Game One | Tuesday, Mar. 15, 3:00 p.m.

Game Two | Wednesday, Mar. 16, 3:00 p.m.

Live Stats

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois baseball continues their road trip over this week with a stop in Pine Bluff, Ark. to face-off against Arkansas-Pine Bluff for a midweek two-game series. The Panthers are currently on a seven game win streak to improve their record to 10-3. EIU has already played fellow SWAC members Grambling State and Alabama A&M during their win streak. With their four wins last week, EIU has moved into third place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

FIRE POWER: Ryan Ignoffo has had a hot start to the season, while leading the Panthers in batting average (.450), hits (27), doubles (10), homeruns (4), and slugging percentage (.817). In the OVC, Ignoffo is second in the conference in batting average, third in slugging, second in hits, third in RBI (22), first in doubles, and second in total bases. He is currently on a six game hit streak. Lucas DiLuca, who is on a ten game hitting streak, is doing it on offense and defense. He is hitting .356 (2nd on the team), while collecting 16 hits, four doubles, and 12 RBI. His .491 on-base percentage is seventh in the OVC, and his double plays turned are tied for first with 10. Lincoln Riley is also leading the conference in on-base percentage with .615 including a league leading 11 hit-by pitches. That stat currently leads the NCAA.

SERIES SWEEP: Eastern Illinois traveled to Alabama A&M this past weekend in rout to a three-game series sweep of the Bulldogs. Ignoffo lead the way for EIU during the series as he hit .500 with seven hits, three doubles, and eight RBI to lead the team to a 3-0 record. In game three of the series, Blake Malatestinic, Jason DeCicco, and Ignoffo combined for a one-hit seven inning game to get to 10-0 win. This marked the second straight series sweep of the Panthers this season.

PRESEASON PANTHERS: Eastern Illinois' Logan Eickhoff and Cameron Doherty both earned preseason All-OVC earlier this offseason. Eickhoff was chosen at the utility position while Doherty was chosen for relief pitching. Eickhoff played in 31 games making 26 starters in the outfield. He was among OVC leaders with a .435 batting average before suffering a mid-season injury. Eickhoff returned on April 30 at SIUE and finished the season hitting .423 to become 23rd player in program history to hit .400 or better during a season. He held an on-base percentage of .463 and slugging percentage of .514.  Doherty posted a 3-2 record with a team high five saves during the season. He finished the season with a 3.45 ERA in 75.2 innings of work. He was also selected as the OVC preseason pitcher of the year for his performance last season.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern has played Pine Bluff twice in their series history, winning their only two meetings in a shortened 2020 season. The Panthers were able to win their first ever meeting by a score of 12-4, and won their second game 9-2. EIU looks to extend their winning streak this weekend against the Golden Lions

SCOUTING REPORT: Pine Bluff is lead by starting short-stop Andre Greene on offense. He is currently hitting .378 with 14 hits, eight runs scored, and seven RBI. Greene also had four stolen bases on the season. Infielder Dante Leach is also hitting of .300 on the season (.302). He has 13 hits on the season with nine runs scored, and a team leading nine RBI. RHP Andrew Duran has made four starts on the mound for the Golden Lions. He has an ERA of 3.24 and a record of 1-2 with two complete games. He has pitched in 25.0 innings with 27 strikeouts.

ON DECK: After the Panthers travel to Pine Bluff, Ark. they will make their way to McNesse State in Lake Charles, La. for a three-game weekend series to close out their road trip before returning home for their first home game against Bellarmine.