CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois baseball team (15-31, 9-13 OVC) suffered a narrow 7-6 defeat in their series opener against Morehead State (29-20, 13-9 OVC) on Friday afternoon. The Panthers rallied from three down to tie late in the game but were unable to overcome some costly ninth inning mistakes that allowed the Eagles to score the winning run.
EIU got out to an early one-run lead with a
Lucas Loos solo shot in the bottom of the first inning. It was Loos' 19th home run of the season and his eighth in the last seven games.
Morehead State responded in the top of the second with a Hunter Thomas solo homer that evened things at 1-1 before taking their first lead with a Nick Gooden RBI single in the third inning.
The Panthers immediately punched back in the bottom of the third with a
Cole Gober double that plated
Lucas Loos and
Quade Peters to regain a one-run advantage.
However, the Eagles surged back ahead in the fourth with a Hayden Robbins three-run homer and extended their lead to 6-3 with a Roman Kuntz RBI double in the fifth.
After eight consecutive EIU batters were retired,
Grant Lashure jump started the Panthers offense with a solo home run in the seventh inning that cut the deficit to two. It was Lashure's second long ball of the season.
In the eighth inning,
Trenton Pallas tied the game with clutch double to left center that drove in Loos from third and a hustling
Michael O'Conor all the way from first.
Unfortunately, EIU was unable to complete the comeback as a throwing error and wild pitch allowed Morehead State to score what would become the winning run in the top of the ninth.
Jonathon Hanscom (1-3) was tagged with the loss while Will Grimmett (2-3) picked up the win.
Chaney Trout and
Jack Potteiger combined for a solid 3.2 innings of relief, as they joined forces to allow no runs and just one hit while on the bump.
Cole Gober and
Grant Lashure were the only Panthers in the multi-hit club with 2-4 outings. Gober also recorded a pair of RBI, while Lashure drove in one with his home run.
Lucas Loos ended the afternoon 1-2 with three runs scored, including his homer. The senior has now reached base in 41-consecutive games, which is the longest such streak for an EIU batter in the last 10 seasons, surpassing Trey Sweeney's 40-game streak from the 2021 season.
Eastern will be back in action on Saturday for game two of this weekend's series. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
