MARTIN, Tenn. – Eastern Illinois (5-18, 0-5 OVC) suffered another narrow defeat at UT Martin (11-16, 3-2 OVC) on Friday afternoon, this time by a score of 15-14. The Panthers overcame a five-run deficit in their final at-bat to take a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Skyhawks responded with two runs to walk things off for the second consecutive game.
EIU jumped out to an early two-run lead with a
Michael O'Conor two RBI single in the first, but UTM responded in the bottom half with a Mac Danford two-run homer and Cole Smith solo shot to take the lead.
Both teams went scoreless in the second before Eastern surged back ahead with a four-run third inning. After two quick outs to start the frame, the next six EIU batters reached base, with
Grant Lashure,
Robby Taul, and
Quade Peters each recording RBI singles.
The Panthers maintained a one-run advantage entering the bottom of the fifth before the Skyhawks offense took off for six runs in the inning to take a commanding 12-7 lead.
EIU got one run back in the sixth when
Cole Gober crushed a home run ball to left field for his fifth round-tripper of the season.
In the seventh, Eastern loaded up the bases with two outs but were unable to find the crucial hit they needed as UT Martin escaped the inning with their four-run lead intact.
The Panthers loaded the bases again in the bottom of the ninth, but this time they took advantage.
Quade Peters got the rally started with a RBI single to right field, which cut the deficit to four and brought
Dylan Drumke to the plate with the bases still full.
Drumke had been held hitless to that point, but the EIU RBI leader came through when it mattered most as he smoked a bases clearing double to the gap in left to bring the Panthers to within a run.
With two outs,
Lucas Loos finished off the rally with a two-run homer to deep left center, which gave Eastern a one-run lead entering the bottom of the ninth.
However, the Panthers were unable to shut the door on UT Martin. The Skyhawks tied the game after reaching home on a wild pitch before once again winning in walk off fashion with a Cole Smith RBI single.
Zane Robbins (1-3) took the loss while Kaleb Baskin (1-2) was credited with the win.
Six different Panthers recorded multiple RBI, led by
Dylan Drumke with three.
Eastern racked up 17 total hits with
Quade Peters,
Grant Lashure, and
Robby Taul each recording three.Â
The series finale is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m.
