Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois baseball team dropped their series opener against Dayton by a score of 9-6. The Panthers held a three-run advantage entering the eighth inning, but the Flyers offense took off for six runs in the final two innings to steal the victory.
Dayton struck first with a David Mendez two-run homer in the top of the first inning to jump out to an early lead before a
Dylan Drumke lead-off home run for EIU made the score 2-1 after one.
After a scoreless second inning, the Flyers' Mason Dobie extended their lead in the top of the third with a solo shot to left center. However, the Panthers tied things up in the bottom of the third as
Kolten Poorman drove in
Cole Gober and
Lucas Loos scored on an error.
The next three innings went completely scoreless as both teams' pitchers settled into the game.
That changed in the bottom of the sixth when EIU put up three runs. The big inning got started with
Dylan Drumke reaching on a passed ball before a
Cole Gober sacrifice bunt advanced him to scoring position.
In the next at bat,
Lucas Loos was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second.
Kolten Poorman made the Flyers pay, as he smashed a three-run homer to put Eastern up 6-3.
However, things started to unravel for the Panthers in the eighth inning. First, Michael Adair singled to drive in Mason Dobie, who had originally reached on a wild pitch. In the next at bat, another wild pitch allowed David Pedanou to score from third, which cut EIU's lead to just one.
Eastern was unable to score any insurance runs in the bottom half and entered the ninth clinging to a one run lead.
That lead was erased with a David Mendez RBI single that made the score 6-6. Mendez would later score on a throwing error after stealing third base to give the Flyers a one run lead.
Dayton would then add insult to injury with a two-run homer off the bat of Eli Yamin to put Eastern in a three-run hole, which they were unable to dig out of in their final at-bat.
Zane Robbins (1-2) suffered the loss for Eastern Illinois while Nick Wissman (3-0) was credited with the win.
Despite the loss, EIU starter
Colton Coca had a solid outing, allowing three runs on three hits with six strikeouts through five complete innings.
EIU will look to bounce back in game two on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Coaches Stadium.Â
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