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CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois baseball (17-12, 1-5 OVC) took care of business during the midweek after picking up a 14-0 win over Western Illinois (4-23, 1-5 Summit) at Coaches Stadium. Eastern Illinois scored 14 runs, their most in the last eight games.

Ryan Ignoffo sparked the offense after going 3-5 in the ballgame with a two-run home run in the first inning. Kolten Poorman also delivered his third home run of the season while Lucas DiLuca added two doubles and two RBI.

Jackson Nichols (W, 1-0) picked up his first win of the season after throwing in 5.2 innings and allowing just three hits and no runs. Caden Kratz (L, 0-2) suffered the loss for the Leathernecks after tossing the first five frames and allowing two runs on six hits.

QUICK STATS
Ryan Ignoffo: 3-5, 3 RBI, HR, 3 R, 2 SB
Kolten Poorman: 3-4, 3 RBI, HR, 2 R, BB
Lucas DiLuca: 3-5, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 2 R, SB
Jackson Nichols: W (1-0), 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, K
Jack Potteiger: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R

The Panthers didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard against WIU as Ignoffo launched a two-run home run over the left field scoreboard in the first inning to give Eastern a 2-0 lead. Nichols would allow just one hit through the first three innings.

Both offenses sputtered after the first inning as Western would post only four base runners in the first six innings. EIU only added three hits in innings two through five.

Eastern Illinois would get back on track in the sixth when Poorman singled to the left side to bring home Ignoffo after a throwing error by the Leathernecks. Jack Potteiger would take over on the mound and get a double play to end the seventh inning.

The bottom half of the seventh saw a breakout for the Panthers offense that had been missing their last couple of games. DiLuca opened the inning with a double and was brought home by Logan Eickhoff. After a stolen base, Eickhoff would score with an RBI single by Ignoffo to bring the score to 5-0.

Runs kept coming in as Poorman would hit his three-run home run with two runners on in the seventh inning to increase the lead to 8-0. DiLuca smashed his second double of the inning into right field to bring home two more before the last run of the inning came in after a fielding error. EIU was leading 11-0 after seven.

Andrew Schroeder and Dylan Drumke would put the finishing touches on the game in the eighth inning with a two RBI double by Schroeder and a sacrifice fly by Drumke to bring the score to 14-0 heading into the ninth. 

Closer Zane Robbins capped off an electric evening by striking out two in the final frame. EIU scored 14 runs on 17 hits with no errors. WIU scored no runs on four hits with two errors.

The Panthers will be back in action at Coaches Stadium for an Ohio Valley Conference weekend series against Little Rock starting on Friday at 3:00 p.m. For more updates go to eiupanthers.com.