PINE BLUFF, Ark. - Eastern Illinois baseball (9-4, 0-0 OVC) picked up their fifth straight win on Tuesday with a midweek win at Arkansas Pine-Bluff (7-8, 0-0 SWAC) by a final score of 10-5. Eight different Panthers earned an RBI in the win.
Cole Gober had two RBI in the game including a solo home run which marked his fifth of the season, tying him for the team lead.
Logan Eickhoff also had three hits and a RBI in the win for the Panthers including a triple.
Starting pitcher
Blake Malatestinic (W, 1-1) earned his first victory of the season after tossing 6.0 innings allowing four earned runs and posting four strikeouts. Frank Perez (L, 0-2) earned the loss after throwing in 2.0 innings, allowing two runs and five walks to EIU.
QUICK STATS
Cole Gober: 2-4, 2 RBI, HR, R
Logan Eickhoff: 3-4, 3B, RBI
Lincoln Riley: 1-2, RBI, 2 R, BB
Blake Malatestinic: W (1-1), 6.0 IP, 5 R, 6 H, 4 K
Jackson Nichols: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K
The Panthers got the ball rolling in the first inning with two walks by Riley and
Ryan Ignoffo. After a flyout and a stolen base, Riley scored on a wild pitch by Perez.
Grant Lashure brought home the second run of the inning with a sac fly to give EIU the 2-0 lead.
Malatestinic had a shutout first inning, but allowed one run in the bottom of the second after an RBI single by Aiden Martinez to cut the lead to one. EIU left the bases loaded in the top half of the second.
With a scoreless third, EIU got back on the scoreboard with a
Cole Gober RBI single to extend the lead back to two runs. Malatestinic would strike out one in the bottom half of the fourth.
The Panthers helped maintain a big lead for Malatestinic as they scored four runs in the fifth inning. After two walks and a bunt single by
Robby Taul,
Logan Eickhoff would single to left to bring home the first run.
Kolten Poorman would also score on a wild pitch.
Dylan Drumke also registered his first RBI of the season after a sac fly to center field to score Taul from third. Riley would produced another run with a sac fly to score Eickhoff and give EIU the 7-1 advantage. The Golden Lions would score one in the bottom half after an RBI single by Isaiah Cohens.
Gober hit his solo home run in the sixth inning to give EIU a six run lead. The Panthers added two more insurance runs in the seventh after a
Dominic DiLello RBI single to score Eickhoff after he had a leadoff triple.
Andrew Schroeder also earned an RBI walk to bring the game to 10-2.
After Malatestinic loaded the bases in the bottom half of the seventh,
Mitch Alba would walk home a run and give up a fielder's choice which scored two more Lions and cut the lead to just five.
Nick Laxner would finish the rest of the game, retiring eight of the last nine batters he faced. He only allowed one walk in his 2.2 innings pitched to secure the win for EIU.
The Panthers scored 10 runs on nine hits with zero errors while the Golden Lions scored five runs on six hits with no errors.
Game two of this midweek matchup will take place tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Updates will be available throughout the game.
