Eastern Illinois (7-11, 0-0 OVC) at Lindenwood (9-12, 0-0 OVC)
March 21-22 | Charleston, Ill. | Coaches Stadium
 
Game 1: Friday at 2 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Game 2 (DH): Saturday at 11 a.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Game 3 (DH): Saturday at 2:30 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats

LEADING OFF: After 18 consecutive road games to begin the season, the Eastern Illinois baseball team welcomes Lindenwood to Coaches Stadium this weekend for their home and OVC openers. The three-game set will get underway on Friday at 2 p.m. with a double header following at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

SERIES HISTORY: The Panthers are a perfect 8-0 all-time against the Lions since the programs first met in 2023. The team have only played in Charleston once, a 20-9 EIU win on March 19th of last year.

LINDENWOOD:

• The Lions enter this weekend with a record of 9-12 after dropping two of three at Memphis last weekend. They were selected to finish ninth in the OVC's preseason poll.
• LU leads the OVC in multiple offensive categories, including batting average (.316), slugging percentage (.522), and on-base percentage (.414). They also lead the league in hits (230), runs (165), and RBIs (155). Their 30 home runs and 52 doubles also top the conference leaderboards.
• Three Lindenwood batters are top five in the OVC in batting average, including Tyler Thompson (.423), Kam Edwards (.402), and Jake Radosevich (.375). Edwards leads the conference in on-base percentage (.520), hits (33), and runs scored (25), while Radosevich is tops in slugging percentage (.734) with six homers.
• The LU defense has given up 150 runs on 216 hits with the pitching staff holding a 7.44 ERA. The Lions' weekend rotation has consistently featured Josh Newell, Eli Brown, and Ethan Smith. Newell leads the team in wins with a 3-2 record, while Ethan Smith has a team-best 4.38 ERA. Meanwhile, Brown leads the OVC with 34 strikeouts.
• Lindenwood is led by second year head coach PJ Finigan.

OVC PRESEASON POLL: EIU was picked to finish fifth in the OVC preseason poll. 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.

LAST TIME OUT: EIU split their brief midweek series at Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Panthers dropped game one 9-6 as Chris Worcester and Ethan Rossi both posted two-hit outings. Five different Eastern pitchers saw action, with Anthony Solis retiring the first six Pine Bluff batters in a brief two-inning start before giving way to the bullpen.

Eastern bounced back with an emphatic 22-6 run-rule victory on Wednesday, in a game featuring a 12-run top of the seventh.

The Panthers racked up 21 earned runs on 14 hits, as 11 different EIU batters recorded knocks in the contest. Tyler Castro led the way with a 2-3, three RBI outing, while Zak Goodwin went 2-5 with two RBIs.

Mike O'Conor matched Castro with three RBIs, while Chris Worcester went 2-3 at the plate for his fourth consecutive multi-hit outing.

Five Eastern pitchers made appearances, with Eli Cartwright picking up his second win of the season after throwing two scoreless innings in relief with no hits allowed and four strikeouts.

AT THE PLATE: The Panthers are batting .238 as a team with 117 runs scored on 146 hits. They have seven homers and 28 doubles on the season.

Chris Worcester leads the team with a batting average of .371, which is top ten in the OVC. He also leads the team in total hits (23), doubles (5), and slugging percentage (.532). He has recorded at least two hits in four consecutive games, and leads Eastern with nine multi-hit games this season.

Worcester is tied with Zak Goodwin and Tyler Castro for the team lead in RBIs with 11.

Pierce Bauerle's on-base percentage of .480 is third best in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Ethan Rossi is the only Panther with more than one home run this season (2).

Brett Stanley leads the team in stolen bases with seven steals on seven attempts.

ON THE MOUND: EIU pitchers have a combined ERA of 5.21, which is third best in the OVC. The Panthers have surrendered 88 earned runs on 173 hits with 116 strikeouts. They've given out 69 free passes for a 1.68 walk-to-strikeout ratio.

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, which is fifth best in the OVC.

Dalton Boruff has two saves with 18 strikeouts through 19.1 innings pitched. He is tied with Christian Carew for most appearances with seven.

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 with 12 strikeouts in six appearances totaling 15.0 innings.

CATEGORY LEADERS:
Hits – Chris Worcester (23), Pierce Bauerle (16), Three players with 12
RBI – Tyler Castro/Zak Goodwin/Chris Worcester (11), Three players with 9
Strikeouts – Tyler Conklin (25), Dalton Boruff (18), Tyler Kapraun (16)

ON DECK: The Panthers will host NIU at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25th before heading to Morehead for a three-game series next weekend. Game one is scheduled for Friday, March 28th at 6 p.m. ET.