Â
NASHVILLE – Eastern Illinois offense was held in check on Saturday afternoon as the Panthers season came to an end with a 7-0 loss to Xavier in the NCAA Baseball Regional.
Eastern Illinois again opened the game with a hit as
Lincoln Riley led off the game with a single up the middle. The inning came to an end as an interference call was made as Riley stole second base.
EIU was held in the check offensively most of the game with early hits by
Grant Lashure and
Logan Eickhoff.Â
Kolten Poorman picked up EIU's fourth hit of the game in the eighth inning.
Xavier scored its first run in the second on an RBI single by Grant Stephenson. The Musketeers added three insurance runs in the fifth on a 3-run homer by Andrew Walker.
Xavier added three runs late in the seventh and eighth innings to back up a strong pitching performance by Ethan Bosacker (8-4) who pitched a complete game for the Musketeers in the win.
Tyler Conklin (9-6) suffered the loss for the Panthers.
EIU wraps up the season with a 38-21 record as the Panthers made their third NCAA Regional appearance as a Division I program. The 38 wins set the program record for wins in a season.
Xavier improved to 38-24 and will face the winner of the Vanderbilt / Oregon game on Sunday in an elimination game.Â
