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Eastern Illinois (13-6, 1-2 OVC) at Bradley (8-11, 2-1 MVC)
Peoria, Ill. | Dozer Park
Tuesday, Mar. 28, 6:00 p.m. CT
ESPN+ | Stats

Eastern Illinois vs. Illinois Wesleyan (4-10, 0-0 CCIW)
Charleston, Ill. | Coaches Stadium
Wednesday, Mar. 29, 3:00 p.m. CT
ESPN+ | Stats

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois baseball will continue their midweek matches as they will travel to Bradley on Tuesday for a night game before returning home to Coaches Stadium for the first home game of the season vs. Illinois Wesleyan. EIU will play 20 straight away games for the second consecutive season.

After the first weekend of OVC play, the Panthers drop the fifth place after taking one of three games from the Skyhawks of UT Martin. Eastern is second in the conference in wins with 13 and are the only team to not play a home game.

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 has played 19 straight away games. In those games EIU is 13-6 including a road victory over No. 3 Arkansas earlier this season by a score of 12-3.

In the NCAA, the Panthers are leading the way in road wins. 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.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: Eastern Illinois lost their opening OVC weekend series at UT Martin after the Skyhawks took two of three from the Panthers. EIU was the designated home team last weekend after they have moved the series from Charleston due to weather.

As a team, EIU is currently hitting .282 for the season which ranks first the the conference. Eastern's .399 on-base percentage also ranks first in the OVC. The Panthers also have the lowest amount of strikeouts as a team with just 144 on the season while they rank second in walks with 114.

Eastern's pitching staff also ranks high in the OVC as their team ERA ranks second at a 5.04. On the mound, the Panthers have only give nup 180 hits on the season (2nd in the OVC) and have allowed the lowest amount of runs this season (110).

EIU's defense has been solid this season as they rank 78th in the NCAA in double plays per game with an average of 0.79. With two shutouts this season, EIU ranks 36th in the nation in that category while ranking 45th in walks per nine innings with an average of 3.72.

Kolten Poorman had an excellent week last week at the plate after hitting .389 through five games with seven hits including a home run and a double. Poorman lead the team in runs batted in with eight including a bases clearing three RBI double vs. UT Martin.

On the season, Poorman is hitting .333 in 13 games played including eight starts. He has four extra base hits including two doubles and two home runs. He is second on the team in slugging percentage with a .576.

Nicholas Rucker also had his best week of the season in five games after hitting .375 with six hits including a home run against Bellarmine. Rucker was tied for second on the team with Ryan Ignoffo in RBI with five.

After a slow start to the season, Rucker is now hitting .302 for the season with 16 hits including two doubles and a home run. He has an on-base percentage of .418 due his 11 walks.

Lincoln Riley has also been able to get on-base over the past couple of weeks. He currently ranks sixth in the OVC with a .427 on-base percentage while also hitting .303 on the year. He is one of three Panthers to start all 19 games thus far.

Known for his ability to reach base, he had a streak of 18 straight games reaching base safely which was broken during the final game of the UT Martin series. Riley also has a total of six multiple hit games including five of those with multiple RBI.

Cole Gober has been a welcomed addition to the lineup this season as he is one of four players with multiple hit games including one with four hits. His .321 batting average currently ranks eighth in the OVC and first on the Panther squad. He leads the team in hits with 26 and is third in RBI with 16.

On the mound, Nick Laxner stepped up last Wednesday against Saint Louis after tossing seven innings and allowing just two hits with five strikeouts. Ignoffo and Zane Robbins helped close out the game for EIU with a 2-0 win.

Laxner currently sits at a 3.12 ERA over his four appearances with three starts. He has a 2-0 record this season in 17.1 innings pitched. On the season, Laxner has allowed just six earned runs and has 15 strikeouts.

Eastern's most consistent and dominant pitcher this season has been Ky Matthews-Hampton. With six starts under his belt, Hampton is 4-0 which leads the EIU team and ranks tied for 25th in the NCAA. Over the weekend, he secured EIU's lone with against UT Martin after throwing seven innings and allowing five hits with no runs.

Hampton on the season has an ERA of 2.34 which ranks second in the conference. His 34.2 innings pitched is the most by a pitcher in the OVC and he has thrown the third fewest allowed runs this season (9). Despite throwing the most innings, Hampton has walked just eighth opponents thus far.

CATEGORY LEADERS
Hits: Cole Gober (26), Lincoln Riley (23), Ryan Ignoffo (20)
RBI: Ignoffo (19), Riley (17), Cade Zalewski (16), Gober (16)
Batting Average (min. 40 at-bats): Grant Lashure (.349), Chris Worcester (.327), Gober (.321)
Home runs: Zalewski (6), Gober (5), Ignoffo (4)
Strikeouts: Ky Matthews-Hampton (20), Tyler Conklin (19), Jonathon Hanscom (19)
Wins: Hampton (4), Zane Robbins (2), Conklin (2) Blake Malatestinic (2), Laxner (2)
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Panthers are currently winning the all-time series against Bradley 43-31. Eastern Illinois has won the last two meetings between the Braves, and have not payed each other since 2012. They first met during the 1961 season when Bradley won by a score of 8-3.

Illinois Wesleyan leads the all-time series against EIU 6-15 dating back to 1960 when the Panthers won the first ever matchup. Eastern Illinois has only faced the Titans once as a Division I team which was last season (EIU won 7-4).

ON DECK: Eastern Illinois will stay in Charleston, Ill. over the weekend as they will have their OVC bye. They will host Butler for two games on Saturday, Apr. 1 starting at 12:00 before going to Butler on Sunday and playing one game. For more information go to eiupanthers.com.

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.