CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois baseball (23-16, 4-9 OVC) drop their opener at Coaches Stadium against Tennessee Tech (14-25, 5-8 OVC) by a final score of 8-3. EIU was held to just five hits in the loss.
Lincoln Riley went 1-2 in the ballgame with a double and a RBI.
Grant Lashure also had a sac fly to bring home his 17th RBI of the season.Â
Ky Matthews-Hampton (L, 5-1) suffered his first loss of the season after going 6.2 innings on the mound allowing 11 hits and six runs (five earned). He also struck out a season high seven. Hunter Mann (W, 2-4) earned the win for the Golden Eagles.
QUICK STATS
Lincoln Riley: 1-2, 2B, RBI, BB
Grant Lashure: 0-2, RBI, BB
Ryan Ignoffo: 1-4, SB
Ky Hampton: L (5-1), 6.2 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 11 H, 7 K
Jonathon Hanscom: 2.1, 3 H, 2 R, 3 K
The Golden Eagles jumped on Hampton early in the top of the first inning with two runs. Peyton Mills had an RBI double to score the first run while Preston Ford posted an RBI single.Â
Eastern Illinois didn't post their first hit until the second inning with an
Logan Eickhoff single, but EIU could not capitalize as Lashure grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The Panthers broke through the scoring drought with a run in the third inning. After a single by
Lucas DiLuca, Riley was able to hit a sac fly to bring home the first run of for the Panthers and cut the lead to 2-1.
Between the end of the second inning through the fourth inning, Hampton was able to putout eight of nine Golden Eagles including four strikeouts. In the fifth, EIU posted their 36th double play of the season to lead the league.
Eastern finally tied the game in the sixth after
Jared Evans was walked to start the inning. After
Sean Lynch Jr. pinch ran for Evans, TTU had two errors which would allow him to score.
Home runs would come back to hurt Hampton on the mound in the following inning. Austin Turner had a three-run home run to mark his first HR of the season. Two batters later John Dyer hit a solo home run to extend their lead to 6-2.
Grant Lashure had his sac fly RBI in the seventh inning to cut the lead to three for the Panthers, but Tennessee Tech would score two more including Dyer's second home run of the ball game to take game one of a three game series.
In the eighth inning, Ignoffo would steal his 21st base of the season, which puts him third in EIU history in a single season in stolen bases.
EIU scored three runs on five hits with one error. Tennessee Tech scored eight runs on 14 hits with three errors. Game two starts tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at Coaches Stadium. For more updates go to eiupanthers.com.
