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Eastern Illinois (12-4, 0-0 OVC) at UT Martin (5-17, 0-0 OVC)
Martin, Tenn. | Skyhawks Baseball Field

Saturday, Mar. 25, 5:00 p.m. CT
Sunday, Mar. 26, 12:00 p.m. CT
Sunday, Mar. 26, 3:30 p.m. CT

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois baseball will travel to Martin, Tenn. for the opening weekend of Ohio Valley Conference play. Originally scheduled to be played at Coaches Stadium, due to weather conditions both teams have agreed to play at UT Martin.

Eastern Illinois will be the home team for all three games this weekend despite playing at UT Martin's field. The Panthers and Skyhawks will play a double header on Saturday and one game on Sunday.

During their eight game win streak, the Panthers now sit atop the OVC standings after winning 12 of their first 16 games this season (.750 win percentage). Eastern Illinois is 2-0 during their midweek games this week after defeating Bellarmine and Saint Louis.

At the beginning of the season, Eastern Illinois was selected to finish third in the OVC standings. Southeast Missouri State was tabbed as the favorite to win by receiving 16 first place votes and are last year's defending champs. Morehead State finished in second with two first place votes.

ROAD WARRIORS: To start the 2023 campaign, Eastern Illinois baseball was scheduled to have 19 straight away games before four were canceled due to weather conditions. EIU is currently 12-4 in their first 16 away games of the season.

In the NCAA, the Panthers are tied for the most road wins with Rider. Last season, EIU ranked second in the nation with 24 road wins, only two behind the Huskies of Connecticut. All three games this weekend will count as away games despite being labeled as the home team.

STREAKING PANTHERS: Eastern Illinois is currently on a eight game win streak heading into conference play. Their current win streak in currently the fifth longest in the NCAA (Kentucky, Arkansas, Texas, UC Santa Barbara). Last season, Eastern Illinois had a win streak of nine games before conference play.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: Eastern Illinois currently ranks first in the OVC in batting average at .279. The Panthers have a total of 119 hits on the season while scoring 119 runs, the third most in the OVC.

With a 12-4 record, Eastern Illinois has a .750 winning percentage. That number currently ranks 28th in the NCAA and first in the OVC. Their 3.62 walks allowed per nine innings also ranks 39th in the country and second in the OVC.

The Panthers defense is coming off their second shutout of the season with a 2-0 win at Saint Louis. Starting pitcher Nick Laxner pitched in seven innings for EIU and allowed the only two hits of the game. Ryan Ignoffo and Zane Robbins also combined for no-hits while the trio gave up zero walks.

Ignoffo and Lincoln Riley had the two RBI on the afternoon as EIU's offense struggled to score runs on only seven hits with one extra base hit.

Cole Gober has been a welcomed addition to the team as he is currently hitting .310 with a team high 71 at-bats. His batting average ranks 10th in the conference while his team leading 22 hits ranks tied for seventh in the OVC. He currently has a seven game hitting sreak and a 15 game reached base streak.

Cade Zalewski has also been a welcomed addition to the Panthers lineup while leading the team in home runs with six. Through 13 games played, Zalewski is hitting .302 with 13 hits, 11 runs scored, two doubles and a team-leading 16 RBI.

With a .767 slugging percentage, Zalewski ranks second in the conference and 58th in the NCAA. His .423 on-base percentage also ranks 10th in the OVC while ranking second on the Panthers squad. His 16 RBI ranks 8th in the OVC and ranks third in home runs.

OVC Preseason first-team selected Ryan Ignoffo currently is hitting .279 for the Panthers in his senior season while also having a 4.63 ERA on the mound in five appearances. In his last appearance, Ignoffo helped set up EIU for their second shutput fof the season after pitching the eighth inning at Saint Louis.

Ignoffo earned All-OVC First Team honors last spring. He was the team leader in batting average (.395), hits (73), doubles (16), home runs (14), RBI (58) and slugging percentage (.708%). Ignoffo was second in the OVC in batting average and also ranked 17th in the NCAA. He posted the following rankings in the NCAA in 2022: 10th in hits per game (1.66), 28th in slugging percentage, and 11th in RBI per game (1.32).

Lincoln Riley has proven he can get on-base after being hit by a pitch four times last weekend against Arkansas State. It tied an Eastern Illinois record for most hbp in a game, and was one shy of tying the NCAA record (5). He now moves up to seventh all-time on the EIU list in hit by pitch with 25 for his career.

During his senior season, Riley is hitting .313 while scoring 14 runs and collecting 20 hits. He is one of three Panthers this season with a triple and ranks second on the team in RBI with 17. His 1.000 field percentage in centerfield ranks first in the OVC.

On the mound, Ky Matthews-Hampton is a two-time OVC Pitcher of the Week while leading the Panthers in wins with three during his first five starts of the season. Hampton is projected to be the starter during game two of the double header on Sunday.

Over the course of five games, Hampton has a 2.93 ERA in 27.2 innings pitched while allowing only 10 runs on 27 hits. He has 15 strikeouts to his name with only seven walks and seven extra-base hits. Opponents are hitting just .248 off of him. 

CATEGORY LEADERS
Hits: Cole Gober (22), Lincoln Riley (20), Ryan Ignoffo (17)
RBI: Ignoffo (19), Riley (17), Cade Zalewski (16)
Batting Average (min. 30 at-bats): Grant Lashure (.382), Chris Worcester (.324), Riley (.313)
Home runs: Zalewski (6), Gober (5), Ignoffo (4)
Strikeouts: Tyler Conklin (19), Jonathon Hanscom (16), Ky Matthews-Hampton (15), Ignoffo (15), Nick Laxner (15)
Wins: Hampton (3), Zane Robbins (2), Conklin (2) Blake Malatestinic (2), Laxner (2)
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Panthers are currently winning the all-time series against UT Martin 48-27. Eastern Illinois has won the last three meetings between the Skyhawks after sweeping them in OVC play last season.

Their first meeting was during the 1981 season when Eastern Illinois finished as the Division II runner up. EIU won the first matchup of the series but lost the first ever OVC matchup during the 1997 season. 

SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS: UT Martin's Will Smith has been excellent through 20 games for the Skyhawks as he is leading the team with a .309 batting average. He currently has 21 hits while scoring 13 runs. 

Andrew Fernandez is also leading the Skyhawks in RBI with 11. He currently has six doubles and a home run on the season. Opponents have scored 154 runs against UT Martin compared to their 80 runs scored.

Seth Petry will pitch one of the games this weekend against the Panthers. He has a 1-2 record on the season with a 4.08 ERA in five starts. Petry has allowed 16 runs on 21 hits in 28.2 innings pitched. He has also struck out a team high 23 batters and is holding opponents to a .202 batting average.

The Skyhawks are coached by six year head coach Ryan Jenkins.

ON DECK: Eastern Illinois will continue their adventures on the road with a game in Peoria, Ill. against Bradley on Tuesday, March 28 starting at 6 p.m. EIU will then return home on Wednesday for their first true home game against Illinois Wesleyan at 3 p.m.

HEAD COACH: Jason Anderson begins his eighth season as the Eastern Illinois head baseball coach. Anderson got his first win as the Eastern Illinois head coach on March 5, 2016 against No. 12 Arkansas by a final score of 10-8 (10 innings). He would go on to finish with a 15-39 record in his first season. He would improve each season over the next three years after posting 21, 23 and 26 wins before posting an 8-6 record during the 2020 COVID-19 season.  Following that season, Anderson coached Trey Sweeney who was drafted 20th overall by the New York Yankees in 2021. Sweeney was the third highest drafted Panther of all-time. In 2022, Anderson would post his most wins in a season after going 33-20 and securing the number four seed in the OVC Tournament held n Lexington, Ky. It was the most wins by an EIU team since 2001. From that team, Anderson coached two first team All-OVC players (Ryan Ignoffo and Hayden Birdsong) and the OVC Freshman of the Year (Chris Worcester). He is a 2012 graduate of the University of Illinois after playing baseball there from 1998-2000. He was the Pitcher of the Year in the Big Ten during the 2000 season, and was drafted in the 10th round by the New York Yankees. After his eight year playing career in the MLB, he made coaching stops at Danville Community College and the University of Illinois before coming to Eastern Illinois. He is assisted by Derek Francis, Forrest Arnold, Mike Pugliese and Colton Hann.