MARTIN, Tenn. – The Eastern Illinois baseball team dropped their series opener against UT Martin by a score of 5-4. The Panthers scored four runs late to force the extras innings but were never able to grab the lead which allowed the Skyhawks to walk things off in the bottom of the eleventh.
After a scoreless first two innings, UT Martin struck first with a pair of bases loaded walks in the bottom of the third. However, starting pitcher
Colton Coca kept the damage at a minimum with a strikeout to end the inning.
Neither team reached base in the fourth before the Skyhawks extended their lead to three in the fifth with a Mac Danford sacrifice fly.
The Panthers threatened in the sixth with two runners in scoring position but were unable to find a breakthrough as UTM pitcher Tristan Walton kept his shutout going. Walton exited the game after seven innings with zero runs allowed and 10 strikeouts.
In the top of the eighth, a
Cole Gober lead-off single and
Lucas Loos walk quickly put runners at first and second with no outs. Michael O'conor then delivered the Panthers' first scoring play with a three-run homer to center field, and just like that, the game was tied.
It was not tied for long, however, as UTM responded with a Hunter McLean RBI single in their next at-bat to put Eastern in a one-run hole with only three outs left.
Those three outs quickly turned to one out before
Lucas Loos got on base with a double down the left-field line. That brought
Michael O'Conor to the plate, who struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt for what would have normally been the final out.
However, an error by the UT Martin catcher while trying to throw down O'Conor at first allowed him to reach base while Loos scored the tying run from second. Now with a second breath,
Jonathon Hanscom shut down the UTM order in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.
Unfortunately, the Panthers were unable to take the lead in extras, and in the eleventh inning, UTM walked off the game with an Alec Beaman RBI double.
Jonathon Hanscom (0-2) suffered the loss while Tucker Reed (2-0) picked up the win.
Five Panthers recorded multi-hit outings, including
Lucas Loos who had two doubles.Â
Game two is set for Friday at 3 p.m., followed by game three on Saturday at 1 p.m.Â
