MACOMB, Ill. -Â The Eastern Illinois baseball team (7-18, 2-5 OVC) picked up their second consecutive win with a 4-1 victory over Western Illinois (6-19, 2-5 OVC) on Friday afternoon. Pitchers
Colton Coca and
Jonathon Hanscom were dominant on the mound as they combined to allow just four hits with seven strikeouts.
While offense was limited for both teams, it did not take long for the Panthers to get on the board with a
Lucas Loos solo shot to left field in the first inning. It marked Loos' seventh home run of the season.
The Leathernecks knotted things up in the second inning with a Trevor Leon RBI single, but that would be their one and only run of the ball game.
After three scoreless innings, EIU took a permanent lead in the sixth with a monster
Dylan Drumke long ball to dead center, which put the Panthers up 2-1.
Drumke would add another run to the tally in the eighth inning with an RBI single that drove home
Quade Peters.
Down 3-1, Western threatened in the bottom of the eighth with runners on the corners with nobody else. However,
Jonathon Hanscom had other ideas, as he worked a routine pop out before getting the Leathernecks to roll into a 6-4-3 double play to escape the inning unscathed.
Danny Infante cushioned the EIU lead with an RBI single in the ninth before Hanscom retired the side in order to close the game and give Eastern their second OVC win.
Starting pitcher
Colton Coca (1-2) picked up his first win of the season while Jason Buhl (1-5) suffered the loss. Coca had a fantastic outing, giving up just one run on three hits with four strikeouts through 5.0 innings pitched.
Reliever
Jonathon Hanscom was credited with the save after going the final four innings and allowing just one hit with three strikeouts.
Dylan Drumke kept things going offensively with a 2-4, two RBI showing.
Six Panthers recorded hits in the game.
Due to the threat of inclement weather on Sunday, the series will conclude with a double header on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
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