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Eastern Illinois (19-13, 3-6 OVC) at Illinois (15-17, 4-8 Big Ten)
Champaign, Ill. | Illinois Field
Stats | Watch

Eastern Illinois vs. Saint Xavier (Ill.) (19-21, 11-8 CCAC)
Charleston, Ill. | Coaches Stadium
Stats | Watch

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois baseball will play two midweek games before returning to Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend. The Panthers open up the week at Illinois in Champaign for a night game at Illinois Field starting at 6:00 p.m.

EIU played Illinois last season during the midweek and won by a final score of 4-2. The Panthers will also play Saint Xavier on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. at Coaches Stadium.

Eastern went 4-1 last week including their first OVC series win of the season over Little Rock. The Panthers also took a non-conference game against Lindenwood and Western Illinois. EIU currently sits in seventh place in the OVC with a 3-6 conference record.

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 had played 20 straight away games. EIU currently is 15-10 on the road including a victory over No. 3 Arkansas earlier this season by a score of 12-3.

In the NCAA, the Panthers are tied for first in road wins with 15 (Rider and West Virginia - 15 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 was able to add four more wins last week as the Panthers went 4-1 including taking two of three from OVC newcomer Littler Rock. The Panthers improved on their OVC record and now stand at 3-6 which is good for seventh place.

As a team, EIU is currently hitting .277 for the season which ranks second in the conference. Eastern's .384 on-base percentage also ranks first in the OVC. The Panthers have the lowest amount of strikeouts as a team with just 229.

On the base pads, Eastern Illinois ranks 31st in the country in the stolen bases per game with an average of 1.91 per game. On the season, EIU has 61 stolen bases (36th in the NCAA). With 25 sacrifice bunts on the season, EIU also can play the small game ranking 20th in the NCAA.

On the mound, the Eastern pitching staff has been solid with the lowest ERA in the OVC at 4.48 (47th nationally). They are allowing their opponents to hit just .271 on the season while they have also given up the second lowest amount of hits to opponents (296).

With a solid defense backing up EIU pitchers, the Panthers have only allowed 164 runs this season which is the lowest in the OVC. EIU has only given up 102 walks this season which is the lowest in the conference. Their walks per nine innings (3.29) ranks 17th in the NCAA.

EIU's defense has been solid even with runners on base as they average 0.88 double plays per game. Last weekend, EIU had six double plays in their series vs. Little Rock. Eastern ranks third in the OVC in fielding percentage at .969. Their 325 assists in the field ranks second in the OVC.

After their 14-0 shutout of Western Illinois last Wednesday, EIU has now posted four shutouts during the 2023 season. This now ties their total shutouts from last season and ranks 11th in the country.

Lucas DiLuca had his best week of the season after hitting .462 with a team high three doubles helping Eastern Illinois to a 4-1 week including their first OVC series win over Little Rock. He leads the OVC in sac bunts with seven.

DiLuca had three of his RBI vs. Little Rock, and had two of his doubles come in the same inning vs. Western Illinois. He was second on the team in steals with three. He also had four sacrifice bunts this week and two sac flies in a 7-6 win over Little Rock.

Catcher Grant Lashure continues to impress at the plate with a team leading batting average of .338 (min. 50 at-bats). He leads the team in doubles with eight and has 13 RBI during the course of the season. 

Lashure has an on-base percentage of .429 this season while also scoring 14 times. Behind the plate, Lashure has one error all year with a .993 fielding percentage and 135 put-outs.

Logan Eickhoff started all five games last week while collecting six hits in those games. He led the team in stolen bases after going 5-5 last week. Overall, he is second on the team with 14 stolen bases.

On the season, Eickhoff is hitting .333 in 20 games played with a total of 21 hits. He is one of four Panthers this season to hit a triple. Eickhoff has an on-base percentage of .432 in 63 at-bats which includes being walked nine times.

Lincoln Riley got back over the .300 mark for his batting average over last week after registering eight hits. Riley went 8-24 during their stretch last week and posted two runs scored, three RBI and two stolen bases.

Riley has 126 at-bats this season to lead the team. He also leads the team in hits (38) and hit-by-pitch (12).  His on-base percentage of .427 ranks 10th in the OVC. He also ranks eighth in stolen bases in the conference.

Kolten Poorman was the hero during the second game of Saturday's double header as he had to walk-off RBI to defeat Little Rock 7-6. On a potential double play ball, Poorman beat out the throw to first to bring home the runner and give EIU their third conference win.

During his first season with the Panthers, Poorman has a batting average of .281 in 24 games played. He has two doubles and three home runs on the year while also scoring 12 times.

Out of the bullpen, Colton Coca had a strong week which led him to being named the OVC Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 in wins against Lindenwood and Little Rock. He pitched in a combined 5.0 innings over the weekend allowing only one hit and struck out seven.

Coca, a transfer from Central Michigan, has thrown in eight games this season (3-2) with a 3.86 ERA. He has allowed seven runs in 16.1 innings of work with 18 strikeouts.

Nick Laxner, projected midweek starter, is having a strong season for the Panthers. He has started five games this season and has a 2-1 record and a ERA of 4.35. In his 31.0 innings of work, he has allowed 15 earned runs and has struck out 30. He also is holding his opponents to a .273 batting average.

CATEGORY LEADERS
Hits: Lincoln Riley (38), Ryan Ignoffo (33), Cole Gober (32)
RBI: Ignoffo (30), Riley (21), Gober (19)
Batting Average (min. 50 at-bats): Grant Lashure (.338), Logan Eickhoff (.333), Riley (.302)
Home runs: Cade Zalewski (6), Ignoffo (6), Gober (5)
Strikeouts: Tyler Conklin (36), Nick Laxner (30), Ky Matthews-Hampton (28)
ERA (min. 10 IP): Jackson Nicholas (0.00), Zane Robbins (2.63), Hampton (3.08)
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Panthers are currently losing the all-time series against Illinois 22-55. Last season, the Panthers won their midweek matchup vs. the Fighting Illinois by a final score of 4-2. EIU already has one Power Five win this season after beating No.3 Arkansas.

Eastern Illinois has an overall record of 3-2 against Saint Xavier. The Panthers played them last season in a game played in Rantoul, Ill. EIU would go on to win by a final score of 15-7.

ON DECK: Eastern Illinois will hit the road for an OVC series against newcomer Southern Indiana in Evansville, Ind. First pitch of game one will be on Friday, April 21 at 6:00 p.m. 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.