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Eastern Illinois (22-15, 4-8 OVC) at Butler (9-30, 2-7 Big East)
Indianapolis, Ind. | Buldog Park
Tuesday, Apr. 25 at 3:00 p.m. CT | Stats

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois baseball will play a single midweek game this week as they travel to Butler University to take on the Bulldogs. EIU and Butler previously played three games this season with the Bulldogs taking two of three.

EIU was 3-2 last week including a 1-0 shutout win of Big Ten opponent Illinois. They then followed that performance with a win against Saint Xavier and going 1-2 at Ohio Valley Conference opponent Southern Indiana.

Eastern currently sits in eighth place overall with a 4-8 record in the OVC. The Panthers will take on Tennessee Tech for a three game series this weekend at Coaches Stadium.

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 17-12 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 the lead in road victories with 17 (Rider and Boston College also have 17). Last season, EIU ranked second in the nation with 24 road wins, only two behind the Huskies of Connecticut.

QUICK HITTER NOTES: Eastern Illinois had 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 .280 for the season which ranks second in the conference. Eastern's .387 on-base percentage ranks second in the OVC (89th in NCAA). The Panthers have the lowest amount of strikeouts as a team with just 261.

On the base pads, Eastern Illinois ranks 47th in the country in the stolen bases per game with an average of 1.70 per game. On the season, EIU has 69 stolen bases (53rd in the NCAA). With 30 sacrifice bunts on the season, EIU also can play the small game ranking 14th in the NCAA.

On the mound, the Eastern pitching staff has been solid with the second lowest ERA in the OVC at 5.23. They are allowing their opponents to hit just .277 on the season while they have also given up the third lowest amount of hits to opponents (356).

With a solid defense backing up EIU pitchers, the Panthers have only allowed 217 runs this season which is the second lowest in the OVC. EIU has only given up 136 walks this season which is the lowest in the conference. Their walks per nine innings (3.78) ranks 44th in the NCAA.

EIU's defense has been solid even with runners on base as they average 0.84 double plays per game (46th in the NCAA). Two weeks ago, EIU had six double plays in their series vs. Little Rock. Eastern ranks third in the OVC in fielding percentage at .968. Their 365 assists in the field ranks second 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.

Preseason All-OVC selection Ryan Ignoffo returned to form last week after going 10-19 at the plate in five games (.526 batting average). Against USI, Ignoffo posted three home runs and six RBI including two home runs in game three of the series.

On the season, Ignoffo is hitting .301 while starting in all 37 games for the Panthers. He leads the team in home runs (9), hits (43), RBI (36), walks (24), stolen bases (19) and runs scored (37). Ignoffo ranks sixth in the OVC in runs scored and third in stolen bases.

He currently has 12 games this season with multiple hits and also 11 games with multiple RBI. He is on a three game hitting streaking while also reaching base safely in 12 straight games.

Nicholas Rucker also had a very productive weekend against Southern Indiana going 7-14 at the plate with three walks. He drove in a team high six RBI while also scoring six times. Of his seven hits, two of them were doubles and two were home runs.

During his senior campaign, Rucker is leading the team in batting average with a .324 (minimum 50 at-bats). He is third on the team in hits with 35 while also scoring 20 times with 17 RBI. He has an on-base percentage of .427 after being walked 20 times.

Kolten Poorman has found success as the Panthers' third baseman in his first season at EIU. He is currently hitting .309 in 29 games played. With a total of 25 hits on the season, Poorman has also driven in a total of 20 runs. He has an on-base percentage of .400 with 13 walks drawn.

Jackson Nichols continues to dominate on the mound with a 0.00 ERA in 24.0 innings pitched over nine appearances. He has allowed just 15 hits this season while striking out four. He has alos walked an OVC low four batters. Nichols has held his opponents to a .179 batting average.

CATEGORY LEADERS
Hits: Ryan Ignoffo (43), Lincoln Riley (39), Nicholas Rucker (35)
RBI: Ignoffo (3)6, Riley (23), Gober (22)
Batting Average (min. 50 at-bats): Rucker (.324), Grant Lashure (.318), Kolten Poorman (.309)
Runs: Ignoffo (37), Riley (30), Gober (21)
Strikeouts: Tyler Conklin (40), Nick Laxner (36), Ky Matthews-Hampton (33)
ERA (min. 10 IP): Jackson Nicholas (0.00), Zane Robbins (2.20), Hampton (3.43)
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Panthers and Bulldogs are currently tied in the series history with eight wins each. Butler has won the last two meetings against EIU which came earlier this year at Coaches Stadium.

EIU took the first game of the series this season at Butler by a final score of 12-0 in eight innings. Butler would take the next two including a 14 inning loss by a score of 5-6.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Butler is led by Joey Urban at the plate with a team high .294 batting average. Urban has a total of 45 hits on the season including 11 doubles, three triples and six home runs. He also leads the team in RBI with 27.

Carter Dorighi has also been a solid option at the plate for Butler. He currently is hitting .279with 43 hits including three doubles and two triples.

Butler is coached by former EIU assistant coach Blake Beemer.

ON DECK: Eastern Illinois will return to OVC play this weekend at Coaches Stadium when Tennessee Tech comes to town for a three game series. Play will start on Friday at 3:00 p.m. CT followed by 1:00 p.m. games on Saturday and Sunday. For 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.