Photo Gallery (Sandy King)
NASHVILLE – Eastern Illinois jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning but could not hold that lead against NCAA Regional host and No. 6 national seed Vanderbilt on Friday night at Hawkins Field.
EIU fell 12-2 and will now play Xavier at 2 pm on Saturday afternoon in an elimination game as EIU is making its third NCAA Regional appearance.
Lincoln Riley opened the game with a triple, one of two hits for the centerfielder.Â
Ryan Ignoffo followed with a double for one of his two hits as EIU led 1-0.
Vanderbilt answered in the bottom of the first tying the game on a RJ Schreck sacrifice fly and taking the lead 2-1 on a Parker Noland RBI single to right.
The Commodores opened up their lead in the game with six runs in the bottom of the third. Davis Diaz had a two-run home run with Alan Espinal clearing the bases with a three-run double.
The Panthers tacked on a run in the fifth with
Chris Worcester scoring an unearned run.
Vanderbilt scored again late with a two-run home run by Jonathan Vastine.  Diaz and Noland were two of the four Commodores finishing with multiple hits.
Ky Hampton (7-3) took the loss for EIU as they dropped to 38-20 on the season.Â
Devin Futrell (8-3) picked up the win for Vanderbilt as they improved to 42-18.
