LEXINGTON, Ky. - Eastern Illinois (33-20, 12-12 OVC) end their season at the OVC Tournament with a first round exit in a close 6-8 defeat against SIUE (27-26, 11-13 OVC).
Trevor Nicholson started today's game by throwing six strikeouts in 5.1 innings while allowing six hits and three runs.
Dalton Doyle added a three-run home run in the second inning of today's game while
Ryan Ignoffo and
Chris Worcester both picked up RBIs.
Lucas DiLuca,
Nathan Aide, and
Nicholas Rucker all had multiple hits for EIU.
Hayden Birdsong suffered the loss after throwing in 3.2 innings while allowing five runs (three earned) and had three strikeouts.
QUICK STATS
Trevor Nicholson: ND, 5.1 IP, 3 R, BB, 6 K
Dalton Doyle: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
Chris Worcester: 1-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB
Nicholas Rucker: 2-4, 2B
Hayden Birdsong: L (5-4), 3.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
The Cougars were able to jump off to an early lead in the first inning after Brett Johnson triple to deep center field off Nicholson. Connor Kiffer would hit him home later in the inning on a groundout to short. Nicholson would collect his first strikeout to end the inning.
After a scoreless first inning by EIU, Nicholson came back on the mound throwing two strikeouts in the top of the second to give him his third of the day.
Panthers would strike back in the bottom of the second after
Nathan Aide singled to left, and OVC Freshman of the Year Worcester double to left center to put runners on second and third. Doyle would deliver a deep shot to left field for a three-run homerun, his fifth of the year.
SIUE would threaten in the third with runners on the corners with one out, but Nicholson got Kiffer to hit a sharp ground ball back to the mound that allowed EIU to turn two to get out of the inning. Panthers would also strand two runners in the bottom of the third.
Nicholson, the OVC leader in strikeouts, struck out the side in the fourth going against SIUE's four, five, and six hitters. That would put him at six through four innings.
In the top of the fifth, B. Johnson for SIUE delivered his second triple of the game to score Avery Owusu-Asiedu to cut the Panther lead to one. Nicholson would get out of the inning standing Johnson at third.
Eastern would extend their lead in the bottom of the fifth with three runs. Kaid Karnes allowed a DiLuca walk and a Eickhoff single to start the inning. Ignoffo would hit a hard single through the left side to score DiLuca, while Eickhoff would score on the same play after an error by Brett Pierson in left field. Ignoffo would steal third, and be hit home by Worcester after a groundout to the pitcher to end the inning.
Birdsong would replace Nicholson in the sixth inning after Brennan Orf delivered SIUE's third triple which tied the OVC record set in 2016. Brady Bunten would hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Orf. Pierson then doubled to left, and advanced to third on an error by Aide. Owusu-Asiedu delivered an RBI single to short to cut the lead to 6-4 for the Panthers.
Panthers would get a chance to score another in the bottom of the sixth after DiLuca delivered a single to the left side, but Rucker was thrown out at the plate by Pierson in left field.
SIUE took advantage in the seventh inning as they would take the lead by scoring three runs off of Birdsong. After a walk to leadoff the inning, Richie Well would reach base off an error by Eickhoff in center. Kiffer would then load the bases for Orf who delivered his second extra base hit with a double to left center field to clear the bases.
Both the Cougars and the Panthers would go scoreless in the eighth inning as both squads went three-up three-down to bring up the ninth.
SIUE would add another run in the ninth inning as Well hit a line home run to left field to give the Cougars the two run lead heading into the bottom of the ninth. EIU would have a runner on in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, but failed to score as the game ended with a score of EIU 6 SIUE 8.
The Panthers scored six runs on 10 hits with three errors. The Cougars would score eight runs on 10 hits with one error. EIU ends its season with a 33-20 record, the most wins in a season since the 2001 season. They also had the second best record in school history through 20 games.
