Eastern Illinois (6-10, 0-0 OVC) at Arkansas Pine Bluff (1-19, 0-3 SWAC)
March 18-19 | Pine Bluff, Ark. | Torii Hunter Baseball Complex
 
Game 1: Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET | Watch | Live Stats
Game 2: Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET | Watch | Live Stats
 
LEADING OFF: The Eastern Illinois baseball team closes out their early season road tour with a pair of midweek matchups at Arkansas-Pine Bluff this Tuesday and Wednesday, which will be the Panthers' 17th and 18th consecutive away games to begin the 2025 season.

SERIES HISTORY: EIU is 5-0 all-time against UAPB, with the two teams first meeting in 2020. All five matchups have been hosted in Pine Bluff, with the Panthers outscoring the Lions 51-15. Eastern took the last meeting 8-2 on March 15, 2023.

ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF:

• The Lions enter this week with an overall record of 1-19, including an 0-3 mark in SWAC play after being swept by FAMU over the weekend. Their lone victory was a 7-4 win over OVC opponent Little Rock last week.
• Pine Bluff is batting .246 as a team with 72 runs scored on 146 hits. Vinny Saumell leads the team in batting average (.343) and OPS (.817), while Brant Voth's seven doubles are most in the SWAC. Four Lions have double-digit RBIs on the season, led by Ben Van Maanen with 11.
• UAPB pitchers have a combined ERA of 8.41 with a .332 batting average against. They have struck out 79 batters while walking 115 for a strike-to-walk ratio of 0.65.
• The Lions are led by first-year head coach Logan Stout.

WEEKEND RECAP: The Panthers took one of three against Western Carolina in Cullowhee over the weekend.

The Panthers fell in game one despite possessing the lead for six innings, as four unearned runs in the eighth allowed the Catamounts to come from behind and steal the series opener. Tyler Conklin recorded another strong performance on the mound as he allowed just one run on six hits with three strikeouts through the game's first six innings.

The offense came early and often for the Catamounts in game two while the Panthers struggled to find consistent production at the plate. Chris Worcester led Eastern with three hits including a double, while Ethan Rossi went 2-4 with a home run.

After struggling to produce much on Friday, the EIU offense kicked things into gear in a 9-5 win in the series finale. Seven different Panthers recorded hits in the contest, led by Chris Worcester with a three hit, two RBI performance.

Tyler Kapraun picked up his first win of the season after allowing just one earned run on six hits with five strikeouts in a 6.1 inning outing, while Nate Marshall was awarded the save after allowing no runs and no hits with a strikeout through the game's final two and a third innings.

AT THE PLATE: The Panthers are batting .227 as a team with 89 runs scored on 124 hits. They have six homers and 21 doubles on the season.

Chris Worcester leads the team with a batting average of .352. He is also tops in total hits (19), doubles (5), and slugging percentage (.500).

Worcester is tied with Zak Goodwin for the team lead in RBIs with nine.

Pierce Bauerle's on-base percentage of .507 is third best in the Ohio Valley Conference.

ON THE MOUND: EIU pitchers have a combined ERA of 5.06, which is third best in the OVC. The Panthers have surrendered 77 earned runs on 155 hits with 105 strikeouts. They've given out 59 free passes for a 1.78 walk-to-strikeout ratio, which is second best in the OVC.

Tyler Conklin leads the squad in strikeouts with 25 K's through a team-high 30.2 innings pitched. He holds a 2-1 record with a 4.11 ERA.

Dalton Boruff has two saves with 17 strikeouts through 17.2 innings pitched. He is tied with Christian Carew for most appearances with six.

Nate Marshall picked up his first save on Saturday and has given up just two hits and zero runs in 6.0 innings this season.

Bryce Riggs has allowed zero earned runs in five appearances totaling 12.1 innings.

CATEGORY LEADERS:
Hits – Chris Worcester (19), Pierce Bauerle (15), Peyton Wilson/Brett Stanley (12)
RBI – Zak Goodwin/Chris Worcester (9), Tyler Castro/Brett Stanley (8), Three players with 7
Strikeouts – Tyler Conklin (25), Dalton Boruff (17), Tyler Kapraun (16)

ON DECK: Eastern opens up Ohio Valley Conference play with a three-game series against Lindenwood in Charleston this weekend. The home opener is set for Friday, March 21st at 3:00 p.m.