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Eastern Illinois (21-13, 3-6 OVC) at Southern Indiana (11-25, 3-9 OVC)
Evansville, Ind. | USI Baseball Field

Game One: Saturday, Apr. 22 at 2:00 p.m. CT | Stats | Watch
Game Two: Saturday, Apr. 22 at 5:30 p.m. CT | Stats | Watch
Game Three: Sunday, Apr. 23 at 1:00 p.m. CT | Stats | Watch

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois baseball continues their Ohio Valley Conference season as they travel to OVC newcomer Southern Indiana for a three-game weekend series. The Screaming Eagles are in their first-season as Division I opponents.

EIU is 2-0 on the week with two shutout victories over Big Ten opponent Illinois and NAIA opponent Saint Xavier. It marked the first time since 1990 that the Panthers have had back-to-back shut out victories (Defeated SIUE 9-0 then Western Illinois 4-0).

Eastern currently sits in seventh place overall with a 3-6 record in the OVC. USI sits right behind EIU with a 3-9 record which is good for eighth place.

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 16-10 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 lead the NCAA in road victories with 16. Last season, EIU ranked second in the nation with 24 road wins, only two behind the Huskies of Connecticut.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: Eastern Illinois already has a solid start to Week 10 of the season after picking up a shutout victory over Illinois in Champaign. It marked the first time an EIU team had beaten two Power Five schools in the same season since 2013.

The Panthers also have played six extra inning games this season including their 12 inning win over Illinois. In those games they have a 4-1 record with their lone loss coming vs. Butler in 14 innings. With six extra inning games, it marks the most in a season since 2014.

As a team, EIU is currently hitting .272 for the season which ranks second in the conference. Eastern's .379 on-base percentage ranks third in the OVC. The Panthers have the lowest amount of strikeouts as a team with just 240.

On the base pads, Eastern Illinois ranks 39th in the country in the stolen bases per game with an average of 1.79 per game. On the season, EIU has 67 stolen bases (46th in the NCAA). With 28 sacrifice bunts on the season, EIU also can play the small game ranking 17th in the NCAA.

On the mound, the Eastern pitching staff has been solid with the lowest ERA in the OVC at 4.26 (36th nationally). They are allowing their opponents to hit just .263 on the season while they have also given up the second lowest amount of hits to opponents (306).

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 109 walks this season which is the lowest in the conference. Their walks per nine innings (3.27) ranks 16th in the NCAA.

EIU's defense has been solid even with runners on base as they average 0.88 double plays per game (33rd in the NCAA). Last weekend, EIU had six double plays in their series vs. Little Rock. Eastern ranks third in the OVC in fielding percentage at .970. Their 349 assists in the field ranks first in the OVC.

After their 5-0 shutout of Saint Xavier on Wednesday, EIU has now posted six shutouts during the 2023 season. In the country, EIU ranks eighth nationally in shutout wins.

Catcher Grant Lashure was the hero during the midweek as he drove in the game winning run in a 1-0 victory at Illinois. On the season, Lashure leads the Panthers in batting average with a .329 and doubles with eight.

He has appeared in 25 games this season while making 21 starts all behind the plate. Lashure has 27 hits on the season, 14 runs scored and 14 RBI. He also has been walked 12 times with a .417 on-base percentage.

Lincoln Riley is one of two Panthers to have played in all 34 games this season. Primarily the starting center fielder for EIU, Riley is hitting .290 during his senior campaign with a total of 38 hits to lead EIU.

Riley has a knack for getting on base with a .424 on-base percentage. He can get on in a variety of ways including drawing 17 walks and being hit-by-pitch 15 times to lead EIU. He ranks 17th in the country in hbp. He also has 12 stolen bases on the year which is eighth in the OVC.

Ryan Ignoffo has started to return to All-OVC form as of late. He has improved his batting average to a .275 in part to a 3-5 day at Illinois which including him scoring the game winning run to secure EIU's 20th win of the season.

On the season, Ignoffo leads the Panthers in runs scored (30), RBI (30), walks (20), and home runs (6). When he gets on base, he is also a problem with 18 stolen bases to lead EIU. He also ranks third in the OVC in stolen bases. He is the second Panther to start all 34 games.

Ignoffo was also nominated earlier this week for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Watch List given to the best two-way player in the country. On the mound, Ignoffo has a 1-1 record an a 6.97 ERA. He has pitched in 20.1 innings and has allowed 17 runs on 20 hits with 23 strikeouts.

During his first season with the Panthers, Kolten Poorman has a batting average of .271 in 26 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 nine games this season (3-2) with a 3.63 ERA. He has allowed seven runs in 17.1 innings of work with 18 strikeouts.

Starting pitcher Ky Matthews-Hampton has been dominant this season for the Panthers in nine starts. With a perfect 4-0 record, Hampton ranks fifth in the OVC in ERA with a 3.08. His 52.2 innings pitched are the most in the OVC.

Hampton has only allowed 13 walks this season for an average of 2.22 per nine innings which is the third lowest in the OVC.

CATEGORY LEADERS
Hits: Lincoln Riley (38), Ryan Ignoffo (36), Cole Gober (33)
RBI: Ignoffo (30), Riley (21), Gober (19)
Batting Average (min. 50 at-bats): Grant Lashure (.329), Nicholas Rucker (.298), Logan Eickhoff (.292)
Runs: Ignoffo (30), Riley (26), Gober (21)
Strikeouts: Tyler Conklin (36), Nick Laxner (33), Ky Matthews-Hampton (28), Blake Malatestinic (28)
ERA (min. 10 IP): Jackson Nicholas (0.00), Zane Robbins (2.35), Hampton (3.08)
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Panthers are currently winning the all-time series against Southern Indiana 17-6. They first met during the 1973 season when Eastern Illinois was still a Division II team. EIU won the first ever meeting by a score of 12-1.

These two teams have not met since the 2002 season when EIU opened up their season at USI and defeated the Screaming Eagles 7-3.

SCOUTING THE SCREAMING EAGLES: Southern Indiana is led by Tucker Ebest who leads the Screaming Eagles in doubles and home runs with seven each. Ebest is averaging over an RBI a game and has 31 on the season. 

On the mound, Gavin Morris is projected to start one of the three games this weekend. He currently has a 4.99 ERA in 11 appearances. In 30.2 innings pitched he has allowed 18 runs on 24 hits while striking out 20.

ON DECK: Eastern Illinois will have one midweek game next week ast they go back to Indianapolis, Ind. to face the Bulldogs from Butler. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25. Fore more updates 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.