CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois baseball team (9-19, 4-5 OVC) came up just a little short against Northern Illinois (11-21, 6-9 MAC) on Tuesday afternoon. The Panthers scored six runs in the ninth inning but were unable to complete the rally as they fell by a score of 14-12.
NIU got the scoring started early with a CJ Cepicky two-run home run in the first inning before
Cole Gober answered with a long ball of his own to make the score 2-1 after one.
However, the Huskies blew the game wide open in the second inning as they put up six runs, including four off of a Colin Summerhill grand slam. It would end up being the first of two big innings for Northern Illinois that doomed Eastern.
The EIU pitching staff settled down in the middle innings, as
Lukas Touma retired seven of eight batters faced through the third and fourth innings, before
Jack Potteiger replaced Touma in the fifth and only allowed one run through 2.1 innings of work.
Despite Touma and Potteiger holding NIU mostly in check, the Panthers struggled to cut into the lead. It was not until the bottom of the sixth when the Eastern bats broke through for a pair of runs off a
Danny Infante RBI walk and
Collin Kalinowski RBI single.
After another scoreless inning for NIU,
Cole Gober cut the lead to five with another solo home run in the bottom of the seventh.
However, the Huskies unleashed another offensive outburst in the eighth with five runs, including two off another Summerhill homer.
Now trailing by 10 runs with just six outs to work with, the Panthers inched closer with a
Dylan Drumke two-RBI double that drove in
Quade Peters and
Collin Kalinowski.
Facing an eight-run deficit in their last at-bat, Eastern refused to go down quietly. They mounted a heroic comeback attempt, scoring six runs that included two more RBI from
Cole Gober and a
Lucas Loos three-run homer that pulled them within two.
Unfortunately, it was not enough, as NIU eventually managed to get the out they needed to seal the victory.
Anthony Solis (0-1) was designated the loss while DJ Hess (3-0) was credited with the win.
Cole Gober had himself a day, going 3-6 with two home runs and four RBI. Meanwhile,
Dylan Drumke continued to be a reliable run producer for the Panthers with a two-RBI outing, while
Lucas Loos extended his current on-base streak to 23 games with a 3-5, three RBI performance.
Eastern Illinois will resume conference play this weekend when they host SIUE. Game one is scheduled for Friday, April 12th at 3 p.m., followed by games two and three on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
