CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois baseball team (5-13, 0-0 OVC) rolled over Lindenwood (5-15, 0-0 OVC) on Tuesday afternoon in a 20-9 drubbing. The Panthers got out to a 19-0 lead as freshman starting pitcher
Slater Wilcox threw five scoreless innings in his EIU debut.
After a scoreless first inning, the Panthers got the bats going with three runs in the bottom of the second.
Trenton Pallas opened up the scoring with an RBI single that plated
Michael O'Conor.
Dylan Drumke and
Cole Gober also collected RBIs in the inning.
Eastern really blew the game open in their next at-bat when
Dylan Drumke blasted a three-run homer to put the Panthers up 7-0.
EIU put up another crooked number in the fourth when they pushed seven runs across the plate.
Kolten Poorman got the big inning started with a solo homer with one out. The next four batters were walked, resulting in a run before a
Tyler Castro single brought in two more.
Dylan Drumke picked up another pair of RBIs in the inning with a single, while
Lucas Loos rounded out the scoring with another RBI single for the Panthers.
While the Eastern offense was piling up the runs,
Slater Wilcox was doing his part by keeping Lindenwood off the board. In his first appearance as a Panther, the freshman allowed just three hits through 5.0 innings of work while collecting six strikeouts.
EIU had another big inning at the plate in the sixth with five runs scored, including two off a
Michael O'Conor triple, which put the Panthers up 19 entering the seventh inning.
The Lions would eventually get some offense going late in the game, but it was far too little too late, as Eastern Illinois cruised to a 20-9 victory.
Slater Wilcox (1-0) picked up his first career win while Lindenwood's Michael Walsh suffered the loss.
All but one of EIU's starters recorded at least one hit, led by
Michael O'Conor with three. O'Conor had a pair of doubles and his first three-bagger of the season.
Meanwhile,
Dylan Drumke racked up six RBIs to bring his season total to 16.
The Panthers will open up Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend as they welcome Southeast Missouri to Coaches Stadium. Game one is scheduled for Friday, March 22nd at 3 p.m. Games two and three are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.Â
