Tweet #LOYALandTRUE
Eastern Illinois (6-4, 0-0 OVC) at Arkansas State (7-5, 0-0 SUN BELT)
Jonesboro, Ark. | Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field

Game One | Friday, Mar. 10, 6:00 p.m.
Game Two | Saturday, Mar. 11, 3:00 p.m.
Game Three | Sunday, Mar. 12, 1:00 p.m.

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois baseball hits the road for the fourth consecutive weekend as they will head back to Arkansas for a three game series against Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark. The Panthers will have played 13 straight away games to start the season after this weekend.

The Panthers currently sit in third place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings after splitting their four game series last weekend at Dayton. After dropping the first two games by one run each, Eastern bounced back with an 8-1 win and a 9-6 victory.

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.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: Cade Zalewski had his best series to date against the Flyers of Dayton University as he had a home run in each game. Zalewski leads the team in home runs with five, and has had a home run in five out of the last six games for EIU.

Last weekend, Zalewski was instrumental in getting Eastern their sixth win of the season with a 9-6 win in game four against Dayton. In the seventh inning, he was able to connect for a grand slam (the first by a Panther this season) to give EIU a five run lead.

On the season, Zalewski is hitting .320 (third on the team min. 20 at-bats) with eight hits, five home runs, 12 RBI (leads the team) and a slugging percentage of .960 (first in the OVC). His slugging percentage ranks 21st in the nation and also ranks 30th in home runs in the NCAA.

Cole Gober was able to continue his hot streak to start his Eastern Illinois career with another four hits last weekend including a home run in the final game against Dayton. He leads the team in batting average with a .349 through 10 games and has a team high 15 hits.

Gober is also tied for third on the team in runs (eight), has four doubles and 11 RBI. In the OVC, his bating average ranks seventh among players and sixth in total players. Gober is currently averaging 1.50 hits per game over his first 10 games.

Preseason first-teamer Chris Worcester has also had an impact after missing the first three games of the season. Over his last seven games, Worcester is hitting .333 with nine hits over 27 at-bats. Not only is he hitting the ball, but he has an on-base percentage of .419 with three walks and one hit-by-pitch.

Splitting his time between shortstop and second base, he is perfect on the field with eight put-outs and 14 assists. He is the only infielder for the Panthers to maintain a perfect rating on the diamond.

Ryan Ignoffo currently is hitting .306 for the Panthers in his senior season while also having a 5.40 ERA on the mound in three appearances. Last weekend in game three 8-1 victory vs. Dayton, Ignoffo had his first multi-home run game of the season with two solo HR.

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).

Behind the plate, the combination of Grant Lashure and Ben Gallaher as helped EIU not only on the field but in the batters box. Lashure is currently hitting .318 for EIU this season after starting seven games behind the plate. He has seven hits this season with three doubles while also having a perfect fielding percentage behind the plate.

Gallaher is also hitting .214 this season with three hits in his 14 at-bats.  He has 31 put-outs this season at catcher with six assists.

On the mound, Ky Matthews-Hampton was named the OVC Pitcher of the Week for a second consecutive week after his 8.2 innings performance in game three last Sunday against Dayton. He is the only 3-0 starter for EIU this season and has gone at least 6.0 innings in every start.

In the OVC, Hampton currently ranks third in ERA (1.66), eighth in opponent batting average (.222), first in innings pitcher (21.2), and first in wins (3). His 1.66 ERA ranks 84th in the NCAA and his three wins ranks tied four fourth.

CATEGORY LEADERS
Hits: Cole Gober (15), Lincoln Riley (12), Ryan Ignoffo (11)
RBI: Cade Zalewski  (12), Cole Gober (11), Ryan Ignoffo (9)
Batting Average (min. 15 at-bats): Cole Gober (.349), Chris Worcester (.333), Cade Zalewski (.320)
Home runs: Cade Zalewski (5), Gober (4), Ryan Ignoffo (3)
Strikeouts: Ky Hampton (12), Jonathon Hanscom (11), Tyler Conklin (11)
Wins: Ky Hampton (3), Tyler Conklin (1), Zane Robbins (1)
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Panthers are currently losing the all-time series against Arkansas State 4-18. These two teams first met during the 1967 season when EIU was in the IIAC and ASU won by a score of 6-3.

Eastern Illinois picked up their first win against Arkansas State in 1983 when EIU won three straight in the series. The Panthers have not won vs. Arkansas State since the 2002 season (10-6) and have lost the past eight meetings. They hae not played each other since 2005.

SCOUTING THE RED WOLVES: Arkansas State is currently 7-5 heading into the three game series this weekend vs. EIU. They played a three game series at Arkansas Pine-Bluff to begin the year and had a three game series against Illinois State, two teams EIU will face next week.

At the plate, Wil French is their leading hitter with 18 hits on the season and a .409 batting average. He has driven in 11 runs with three doubles and one home run. Kody Darcy also has 15 hits for ASU this season with a team-high nine doubles.

Tyler Jeans has made three starts for the Red Wolves while pitching a total of 18.0 innings. He has allowed seven runs of 14 hits while striking out a team high 21 opponents. He is holding opposing hitters to just a .197 batting average.

Arkansas State is led by 15 year head coach Tommy Raffo. He currently has a 348-399-1 record as a head coach. He is the fifth ever head coach at Arkansas State.

ON DECK: Eastern Illinois will stay in Arkansas for their first midweek match up next week as they take on Arkansas Pine-Bluff on March 14th and 15th. EIU will then return to the state of Illinois next weekend for a three game series at Illinois State.

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.