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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Some late game heroics lifted Eastern Illinois (8-11, 1-0 OVC) to a dramatic extra-innings win over Lindenwood (9-13, 0-1 OVC) in the Panthers' home and conference opener on Friday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.

EIU were down to their last strike in the ninth before a Jake Ferguson two-run homer saved the day, taking the game to extras where the Panthers would ultimately prevail in 11.

Eastern scored 5 runs on 10 hits and two errors. Ferguson led the team with three hits and three RBIs.

Nate Marshall (1-0) picked up the first win of his EIU career after allowing no runs on one hit with a strikeout in extra innings.

Tyler Conklin put in another strong day on the mound, allowing just one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts through eight complete innings.

After the game's first 11 batters were retired in order, back-to-back two-out doubles by Mike O'Conor and Brett Stanley scored the game's first run before a Jake Ferguson RBI single put EIU up 2-0.

The Panthers preserved the early lead into the fifth inning as Conklin retired 12 of the first 14 Lions he faced, including nine consecutive outs to begin the game.

However, consecutive errors to begin the fifth followed by a ground out to first base put two runners in scoring position for Lindenwood.

In the following at-bat, Isom McCall came through with LU's first hit of the game to drive in Arnette and Simpson, tying the game at two runs apiece.

The next three and a half innings were scoreless, with the two teams combining for just four hits.

The offensive drought came to an end in the ninth, with Lindenwood taking a late lead on another Isom-McCall two RBI single after the first two batters of the inning reached on a hit by pitch and walk.

Now trailing by two, Eastern found themselves in dire straits after a pair of quick groundouts left them with two out and nobody on in the ninth. However, Brett Stanley was able to work a walk to keep the game alive and bring Jake Ferguson to the plate.

With his back against the wall down to the final strike, Ferguson crushed a ball to deep left field that carried over the fence for a game-tying two-run homer. It was the redshirt-junior's first round-tripper of the season and extended the contest into extra innings.

Both teams put runners on in 10th, but were unable to push the winning run across.

Nate Marshall then made quick work of the Lions in the top of the 11th to give the Panthers another walk-off opportunity.

In EIU's half of the inning, Jake Ferguson recorded his third hit of the day with a one-out single before a Quade Peters sacrifice bunt put the winning run in scoring position.

After Chris Worcester was intentionally walked, a hard-hit ground ball by Tyler Castro led to an error by the Lindenwood first baseman, allowing Ferguson to come around to score to give Eastern a 5-4 win to open conference play.

It is the first time the Panthers have started 1-0 in OVC play since the 2022 season.

Games two and three of the weekend series will be played on Saturday as part of a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.