Eastern Illinois (0-0, 0-0 OVC) at Louisiana Monroe (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
February 14-16 | Monroe, La. | Lou St. Amant Field
 
Game 1: Friday at 4 p.m. | Listen | Live Stats 
Game 2: Saturday at 6 p.m. | Listen | Live Stats 
Game 3: Sunday at 1 p.m. | Listen | Live Stats 
 
LEADING OFF: The Eastern Illinois baseball team opens the 2025 season this weekend with a road series at Louisiana Monroe. Game one is set to get underway on Valentine's Day at 4 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY: The Panthers are 1-3 all-time against the Warhawks, with all four contests having been played in Monroe. The teams last met in 2018, with ULM taking two of three against EIU. All three contests were decided by one run, including a 6-5 Panthers win in the series finale.

LOUISIANA MONROE:

• The Warhawks enter 2025 after posting a 25-30 record a season ago.
• They were picked to finish 13th in the Sun Belt Conference's preseason poll.
• ULM returns three players who hit over .300 last season, including Bryce Blaser (.326), Michelle Artzberger (.323), and Colby Lunsford (.306).
• Artzberger led the team in RBI (43), walks (28), on-base percentage (.438), and slugging percentage (.547) during the 2024 campaign.
• ULM's pitching staff posted a combined ERA of 5.80 last season.

OVC PRESEASON POLL: The Ohio Valley Conference released its 2025 predicted order of finish last week, with the Panthers picked to finish fifth. SEMO was tabbed as the preseason favorite, receiving 13 first-place votes and a total of 157 points. The Redhawks were followed by Little Rock with five first-place votes (144) and Tennessee Tech (118). Morehead State came in at fourth with one first-place vote (107) with Eastern rounding out the top five at 92 points.

OVC PLAYER TO WATCH: Tyler Conklin was named EIU's Player to Watch. In three starts last season, Conklin struck out 12 batters through 15.0 innings pitched before having his season cut short due to injury. As a sophomore, Conklin posted a 9-6 record with 79.2 innings pitched and a 5.65 ERA. He led the team in strikeouts with 62 and was a part of two combined shutouts during the season.

NEWCOMERS: EIU added 18 new players to this year's roster, including 12 transfers and six freshmen. The transfer class features five pitchers and seven position players, while the freshman class includes two pitchers and four position players.

RETURNING EXPERIENCE: The Panthers also bring back a wealth of experience from last season's squad, headlined by OVC Player to Watch Tyler Conklin.

In addition to Conklin, the Panthers are also returning 2024 OVC All-Freshman pitcher Bryce Riggs. He posted a 4-2 record in 17 total appearances (10 starts) last season, leading the team in wins. Through 56.1 innings, Riggs recorded 46 strikeouts, which was second most on the team.

In total, the EIU bullpen returns 120 combined appearances and 32 starts from the 2024 team.

Eastern also returns some solid production at the plate, led by Perfect Game Preseason All-OVC selection Dylan Drumke. Last season, Drumke batted .292 with 15 homers and 51 RBI, which leads all returners.

The Panthers also bring back slugger Mike O'Conor, who hit .258 with eight home runs and 38 RBI a season ago.

EIU also returns Quade Peters and Tyler Castro, who both hit north of .300 last season and will look to be staples in the Panthers' order again in 2025.

RIDING OUT: Eastern will play their first 19 games away from home this season, including trips to ULM, Arkansas State, Austin Peay, Illinois, Northern Kentucky, Bellarmine, Western Carolina, and Arkansas Pine Bluff.

RETURNING CATEGORY LEADERS:
Hits: Dylan Drumke (57), Mike O'Conor (54), Quade Peters (48)
Home Runs: Dylan Drumke (15), Mike O'Conor (8), Danny Infante/Cade Zalewski (2)
RBI: Dylan Drumke (51), Mike O'Conor (38), Danny Infante (20)
Strikeouts: Bryce Riggs (46), Lukas Touma (38), Eli Cartwright (30)
Wins: Bryce Riggs (4), Slater Wilcox (2), Four players with one win

ON DECK: The Panthers will stay in the Sun Belt next week with a trip to Jonesboro to take on Arkansas State in a three-game series. Game one is slated for Friday, February 21st at 3 p.m.

HEAD COACH: Jason Anderson begins his tenth 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. Max Fecske, and Chandler Strader.