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Baseball at A-State Preview

Panthers Travel To Arkansas State For Weekend Series

Series opener altered to Saturday doubleheader

3/6/2024 12:00:00 PM



Eastern Illinois (1-9, 0-0 OVC) at Arkansas State (9-4, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Jonesboro, Ark. | Tomlinson Stadium – Kell Field
 
Game 1: Saturday, Mar. 9, 1 p.m. | Listen | Live Stats
Game 2: Listen | Live Stats
Game 3: Sunday, Mar. 10, 1 p.m. | Listen | Live Stats

Full Series Notes
 
ON TAP: The Eastern Illinois baseball team closes out their early season road tour this weekend when they travel to Jonesboro to take on Arkansas State. The series opener was originally scheduled for Friday evening, but due to the impending threat of inclement weather, it will be postponed to Saturday at 1 p.m. Game two will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game, with the series finale remaining unchanged as it is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday. 

SERIES HISTORY: EIU is 6-18 all-time against Arkansas State, but the Panthers took both meetings when the teams played in Jonesboro last season.

SCOUTING THE RED WOLVES:
  • Arkansas State enters this weekend with an overall record of 9-4. They got off to an 8-0 start but have dropped four of their last five, including a 12-7 loss to Murray State on Tuesday.
  • The Red Wolves are hitting .269 as a team. Their offense is led by Austen Jaslove, who enters this weekend with a batting average of .472, five home runs, and 11 RBI.
  • Reliever Hunter Draper has been lockdown for A-State, giving up just five hits and zero earned runs through ten innings pitched this season.
  • Arkansas State is led by head coach Tommy Raffo. He has led the program since 2009 and has compiled an overall record of 361-425-1 (.459). He was the 2012 Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
WEEKEND RECAP: The Panthers continued to experience growing pains last weekend as they suffered a sweep at the hands of North Carolina A&T. The final scores were 10-3, 4-3, and 6-4. The Panthers held leads at multiple points through games two and three but were unable to hold off a scrappy Aggies team in either contest.

QUICK HITTERS:
  • Jonathon Hanscom's 2.45 ERA is third best in the Ohio Valley Conference. Through 11 innings of relief work, the senior has recorded 10 strikeouts while allowing just nine hits and three earned runs.
  • Cole Gober and Lucas Loos are top 20 in the conference in batting average with marks of .371 (14th) and .361 (18th), respectively.
  • The Panthers' seven game losing streak is the program's longest since 2017 (8 games).
  • Eastern has played 28 consecutive games away from home dating back to last season.
  • EIU has fielded a different batting order in each of their 10 games this season.
CATEGORY LEADERS:
ON DECK: The Panthers will open their home schedule next Tuesday when they host Bellarmine at 3 p.m. Eastern will then welcome Dayton to Coaches Stadium for three games that weekend. Game one is scheduled for Friday, March 15th at 3 p.m.
 
HEAD COACH:  Jason Anderson begins his ninth season as the Eastern Illinois head baseball coach. Anderson got his first win as the Eastern Illinois head coach on March 5, 2016 against No. 12 Arkansas by a final score of 10-8 (10 innings). He would go on to finish with a 15-39 record in his first season. He would improve each season over the next three years after posting 21, 23 and 26 wins before posting an 8-6 record during the 2020 COVID-19 season.  The following season, Anderson coached Trey Sweeney who was drafted 20th overall by the New York Yankees in the 2021 MLB Draft. Sweeney was the third highest drafted Panther of all-time. In 2022, Anderson would reach a new high mark for wins in a season after going 33-20 and securing the number four seed in the OVC Tournament. It was the most wins by an EIU team since 2001. In 2023, Anderson coached EIU to a school record 38 wins, OVC Tournament Championship, and NCAA Regional berth. It was the Panthers' first Regional appearance since the 2008 season. He is a 2012 graduate of the University of Illinois after playing baseball there from 1998-2000. He was the Pitcher of the Year in the Big Ten during the 2000 season and was drafted in the 10th round by the New York Yankees. After his eight-year playing career in the MLB, he made coaching stops at Danville Community College and the University of Illinois before coming to Eastern Illinois. He is assisted by Mike Pugliese. J.D. Pulfer, and Brad Merritt.

 
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