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CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois baseball (21-13, 3-6 OVC) won their fourth game in a row with a 5-0 win over NAIA Saint Xavier (Ill.) (19-22, 11-9 CCIA) at Coaches Stadium. It marked the second straight shutout for the Panthers and the sixth overall.

Chris Worcester and Dylan Drumke both had a double with an RBI in the seventh inning to help extend the Panthers' lead. Ben Gallaher also had a groundout RBI in the win.

Jackson Nichols (W, 2-0) was dominate on the mound after tossing 7.0 scoreless innings and allowing four hits with three strikeouts. Mitch Alba also had three Ks in the final frame. Logan McCleery (L, 1-3) suffered the loss for the Cougars.

QUICK STATS
Chris Worcester: 1-3, 2B, RBI, R
Dylan Drumke: 1-3, 2B, RBI
Dominic DiLello: 1-2, R, BB
Jackson Nichols: W (2-0), 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 K
Jack Potteiger: 1.0 IP, H, 0 R
Mitch Alba: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 3 K

The Panthers pitching was strong again after holding their second straight opponent to no runs. Nichols allowed just one hit through three innings and faced only nine batters through three. EIU also turned another double play, their 31st of the season.

Saint Xavier only had one runner reach third base throughout the entire game. With runners on the corners in the seventh inning, Nichols got two flyouts to preserve the shutout.

Eastern Illinois got on the board early in the first after Lincoln Riley led off being hit by pitch, his 15th of the season. After a pass ball, Riley scored on an error by the second baseman from a Logan Eickhoff grounder to give EIU the 1-0 advantage.

Starting pitcher McCleery for the Cougars would retire 11 straight Panthers going into the fifth inning before Heath Mann took over on the mound.

EIU started to pour on the runs in the seventh inning after Eickhoff led off the inning reaching base on an error. After two stolen bases and a walk by Ryan Ignoffo, Gallaher drove in Eickhoff to put the score at 2-0.

Dominic DiLello would be walked after the RBI by Gallaher and pulled off the double steal to score Ignoffo. Worcester and Drumke then delivered back-to-back RBI doubles to extend the Panther lead to 5-0.

Jack Potteiger pitched the eighth inning and allowed just one hit before retiring two to get out of the inning. Alba would then post three strikeouts in the ninth to secure the victory for the Panthers.

EIU scored five runs on five hits with no errors in the ballgame. Saint Xavier would score no runs on five hits with two errors.

The Panthers will be back in action this weekend for an Ohio Valley Conference three-game series at OVC newcomer Southern Indiana. First pitch of game one will be at 6:00 p.m. in Evansville, Ind. For more updates go to eiupanthers.com.