LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Eastern Illinois baseball team (13-22, 7-7 OVC) dropped game two against Little Rock (21-17, 9-5 OVC) on Saturday by a score of 8-6. The Panthers jumped out to an early lead, but the Trojans stormed back with eight consecutive runs to even the series.
After neither team got much going in the first inning, EIU scored first with a
Grant Lashure RBI ground out that plated
Cole Gober in the second inning.
The Panthers then pounced out to a five-run lead in the third behind a
Cole Gober two RBI double and
Danny Infante two RBI single.
Little Rock would then score eight unanswered over their next three at-bats, beginning with a trio of two-out runs in the bottom of the third that cut the EIU lead to 5-3.
After being held in check in the fourth inning, the Trojans exploded for five runs in the fifth as they batted around with six consecutive batters reaching base and four recording RBIs.
The only other score for either team was a
Dylan Drumke solo home run in the ninth inning that brought the Panthers to within two.
Lucas Loos reached base on a single to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs, but OVC saves leader Jacob Weatherly got a strikeout to slam the door shut on Eastern's comeback hopes.
Lukas Touma (1-1) was charged with the loss while Autin Stubber (5-1) picked up the win.
Danny Infante has a strong offensive performance for the Panthers as he went 3-4 with two RBI.
Cole Gober also had a multi-hit, multi-RBI outing with a 2-4, two RBI showing.
Meanwhile,
Lucas Loos extended his reached base streak to 30 games.
The series rubber match is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday, as the Panthers will look to pick up a pivotal OVC road win.Â
