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Eastern Illinois (15-9, 1-2 OVC) at SIUE (16-11, 2-4 OVC)
Edwardsville, Ill. | Roy E. Lee Field at Simmons Baseball Complex

Thursday, Apr. 6, 5:00 p.m. CT | Stats
Friday, Apr. 7, 5:00 p.m. CT | Stats
Saturday, Apr. 8, 1:00 p.m. CT | Stats

ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois baseball starts Ohio Valley Conference play back up this weekend as they travel to SIUE for their first true away OVC games of the season. The Panthers traveled to UT Martin earlier this season but were the home team due to a schedule change.

Last weekend the EIU Panthers went 1-2 in a three game weekend series at Butler. The Panthers started off their weekend with a 12-0 win at Butler before coming home to Coaches Stadium and dropping a Sunday double header, including a 14 inning loss.

EIU is currently in seventh place in the conference with a 1-2 record. They are one of two teams (Tennessee Tech) to have their OVC bye weekend already in the season. The Panthers will play an OVC weekend series the rest of the season.

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. In those games EIU is 13-7 including a road victory over No. 3 Arkansas earlier this season by a score of 12-3.

In the NCAA, the Panthers are leading the way in road wins with 14. 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 2-3 overall last week picking up wins against Illinois Wesleyan at home and picking up a 12-0 victory at Butler. Their win at Butler marked their third shutout of the season. EIU ranks tied for 17th in the NCAA in shutouts.

As a team, EIU is currently hitting .287 for the season which ranks first the the conference. Eastern's .398 on-base percentage also ranks first in the OVC (70th in the NCAA). The Panthers have the lowest amount of strikeouts as a team with just 174 on the season while they rank second in walks drawn with 136.

On the mound, Eastern pitching staff has been solid with the second lowest ERA in the OVC at 4.88. They are allowing their opponents to hit just .275 on the season while they have also given up the second lowest amount of hits to opponents (226).

With a solid defense backing up EIU pitchers, the Panthers have only allowed 133 runs this season which is the lowest in the OVC. EIU has also only given up 75 walks this season which is the lowest in the conference. Their walks per nine innings (3.33) ranks 18th in the NCAA.

EIU's defense has been solid even with runners on base as they rank 61st in the country in turning double plays with an average of 0.83 per game. Eastern ranks fourth in the OVC in fielding percentage at a .966. Their 256 assists in the field ranks first in the OVC.

Catcher Grant Lashure has been pilling up the stat sheet this season for the Panthers. He has appeared in 16 games this season making 14 starts behind the plate. With a minimum of 50 at-bats, he currently leads the team in batting average with a .382.

On the season, Lashure had 21 total hits including a team-leading seven doubles with 11 RBI. He has scored 10 runs for EIU while also posting a .470 on-base percentage which ranks third among qualified players.

In limited playing time this season, Logan Eickhoff has had a solid season while batting .345 in 12 games played in. Last weekend against Butler in the first game of a Sunday double header, Eickhoff had three hits and a hit-by-pitch. He is currently on a four-game hitting streak, second longest on the team.

OVC preseason utility selection Ryan Ignoffo currently leads the team in RBI with 27 and ranks fifth in the OVC. His 22 runs scored also ranks first on the Panther squad and tied for eighth in the OVC. His four sac flies ranks 23rd in the nation.

Ignoffo is currently hit .280 this season while being one of just three EIU players to start every game this season (Cole Gober and Lincoln Riley). He has 26 hits this season including four doubles, one triple and five home runs with a .388 on-base percentage.

After redshirting a year ago, Joey Hagen has found a role on the EIU team while appearing in 16 games and starting10 of those. Hagen is currently hitting .333 this season in 36 at-bats. He has posted 12 hits, three doubles and seven runs scored.

Despite a down week, Cole Gober still leads the EIU squad in hits with 30. He is currently batting .286 in a team-high 103 at-bats. He has scored 21 runs for EIU while posting five doubles nad five home runs with 19 RBI.

Lincoln Riley has also been able to get on-base a lot for the Panthers over the first month of baseball. He currently ranks fourth in the OVC with a .444 on-base percentage while also hitting .308 on the year. He is one of three Panthers to start all 24 games thus far.

Known for his ability to reach base, he had a streak of 18 straight games reaching base safely which was broken during the final game of the UT Martin series. Riley also has a total of eight multiple hit games including five of those with multiple RBI. He has been hit by pitch nine times this year, which ranks 63rd in the NCAA.

Nicholas Rucker has also been able to keep the bat hot with a .304 batting average in 22 games played this season. He has 21 hits on the year with four of those being doubles and another two being home runs. He also has 10 RBI and 13 runs scored.

Rucker is second on the team in walks this season with 13, only trailing Riley and Ignoffo who both have 15 each. He has an on-base percentage of .412.

Eastern's most consistent and dominant pitcher this season has been Ky Matthews-Hampton. With seven starts under his belt, Hampton is 4-0 which leads the EIU team and ranks tied for 51st in the NCAA. Over the weekend, he posted a no decision vs. Butler after throwing in six innings and allowing eight hits and two runs with three strikeouts.

Hampton on the season has an ERA of 2.43 which ranks second in the conference. His 40.2 innings pitched is the most by a pitcher in the OVC and he has thrown the third fewest allowed runs this season (12). Despite throwing the most innings, Hampton has walked just nine opponents thus far.

OVC Pitcher of the Week Tyler Conklin will return to the mound this weekend after an impressive seven inning performance against Butler last week. He allowed just two hits over seven innings while striking out a season high seven Bulldogs. He held his opponents to just a .091 batting average.

On the season, Conklin has an ERA of 6.75 in 29.1 innings pitched. He is currently 3-2 with wins on Florida A&M, Arkansas State and Butler.

CATEGORY LEADERS
Hits: Cole Gober (30), Lincoln Riley (28), Ryan Ignoffo (26)
RBI: Ignoffo (27), Gober (19), Riley (18)
Batting Average (min. 55 at-bats): Grant Lashure (.382), Riley (.308), Nicholas Rucker (.304)
Home runs: Cade Zalewski (6), Gober (5), Ignoffo (5)
Strikeouts: Tyler Conklin (26), Ky Matthews-Hampton (23), Nick Laxner (22)
ERA (min. 10 IP): Jackson Nicholas (0.00), Zane Robbins (2.38), Hampton (2.43)
 
SERIES HISTORY: The Panthers are currently trailing in the all-time series against SIUE 43-41. Eastern Illinois split four games with SIUE last season as the Cougars defeated EIU in the OVC Tournament by a final score of 8-6 in Lexington, Ky.

The teams first met during the 1976 season with SIUE taking the first game by a final score of 10-9. Over the last ten matchups, the Panthers are 6-4 with five of those wins coming in Edwardsville, Ill.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS: SIUE is currently 16-11 on the season and have dropped their last three games. In OVC play they are 2-4 with a win against UT Martin and SEMO. EIU also went 1-2 against UT Martin two weeks ago.

Brady Bunten currently leads the SIUE offense with 15 doubles and 32 RBI which ranks second in the conference. His .333 batting average ranks fourth in the conference while his .576 slugging percentage ranks ninth.

Jake Bockenstedt has had a really good season for the Cougars has he has a 3-1 record in seven starts this season. His 3.57 ERA is sixth in the OVC and is leading the conference in strikeouts with 45. He is holding opponents to just a .233 batting average.

ON DECK: Eastern Illinois will have a midweek game against Lindenwood next Tuesday but will not count against the conference record. EIU will head back to Coaches Stadium on Wednesday next week to host Western Illinois.

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.