Eastern Illinois (11-14, 4-2 OVC) vs. Butler (10-17, 0-0 Big East)
Tue., April 1st | 3 p.m. | Charleston, Ill.
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LEADING OFF: After taking two of three at Morehead State over the weekend, the EIU baseball team returns to Coaches Stadium for a midweek contest against Butler on Tuesday. It will be the first of two meetings between the Panthers and Bulldogs this season.

SERIES HISTORY: In a series dating back to 1991, Eastern is 19-13 all-time against Butler. The Panthers dropped both meetings against the Bulldogs last season with a 10-6 loss in Charleston and 12-11 defeat in Indianapolis.

BUTLER:

• Butler enters this week with a record of 10-17 after winning three out of four against Northern Illinois over the weekend. The Bulldogs split a four-game series against OVC opponent Lindenwood earlier in the season.
• BU leads the Big East with a batting average of .301. They are also tops in home runs (36), doubles (45), and slugging percentage (.519) while being tied for first in on-base percentage (0.395).
• Outfielder Jack Moroknek leads the Big East in batting average (.462), home runs (13), slugging percentage (.945), and on-base percentage (0.514).
• The Bulldogs have a team ERA of 11.24 with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 0.82, which are both last in the Big East. Their WHIP of 2.60 is also worst in the conference.
• Butler is led by third-year head coach Blake Beemer, who spent the 2016-2018 seasons as an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois.

WEEKEND RECAP: Eastern won two of three games at Morehead State over the weekend to take their second OVC series of the season and improve their conference record to 4-2.

The Panthers overpowered Morehead State by a score of 19-5 in the series opener. Their 23 hits were the most in a single game since a 25-hit outing at Morehead State on April 10th, 2011. It was the first game with 20 or more hits since the Panthers posted 21 knocks against UT Martin on April 24th, 2016.

Eastern's six home runs were the most in a single game since also recording six against Southeast Missouri on March 22nd, 2024.

EIU split a pair of extra inning contests in a doubleheader of Saturday. The day's opening game was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team gaining more than a two-run advantage throughout the contest's ten innings. Morehead State ultimately prevailed with a walk-off two-run homer to even the series.

The offense was headlined by Brett Stanley, who went 4-5 with a home run, double, and five RBIs. Five Panther pitchers made appearances in the ballgame, including starter Tyler Kapraun who finished his day with a line of four earned runs on five hits with season-high eight strikeouts through 5.2 innings.

The Panthers had to overcome a furious rally from the Eagles in the series finale, as Morehead State erased an eight-run eighth inning deficit to send the game to extras before a Tyler Castro three-run homer saved the series for Eastern Illinois.

Eastern recorded 20 hits in the game for their second 20+ hit performance of the series. Mike O'Conor led the attack, going 4-6 with four runs scored, a home run, one double, and three RBIs. Ethan Rossi also posted four hits with a homer and two RBIs.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Mike O'Conor was named OVC Player of the Week following his outstanding offensive performance in the Panthers' four games against NIU and Morehead State. It was O'Conor's first Player of the Week honor, and he became the first EIU baseball player to take home an OVC award this season.

O'Conor had a massive week at the plate for the Panthers, batting .571 with three home runs and 13 RBIs. He finished the week with a slugging percentage of 1.048 and an on-base percentage of .560.

QUICK HITTERS: EIU is batting .266 as a team with a slugging percentage of .392 and on-base percentage of .387.

Five Panthers are batting over .300 on the season, led by Mike O'Conor with an average of .405. He also leads the squad in slugging percentage (.738) and is tied with Ethan Rossi for the team lead in home runs (4).

Chris Worcester has a team-high 34 hits with a batting average of .362. He leads the team in multi-hit games with 11, including two three-hit and two four-hit performances.

Worcester, Jake Ferguson, and Brett Stanley are on five-game hitting streaks. Ferguson is also enjoying a team-best 10-game reached base streak, and is tied with Worcester for most multi-RBI games (5).

Tyler Castro leads the team in RBIs with a total of 18. He is batting .393 with runners in scoring position this season.

On the mound, the Panthers have a team ERA of 5.91 this season, which is third best in the OVC. They have allowed the second fewest runs (176) and fourth fewest hits (249) in the conference. Their 2.02 strikeout-to-walk ratio is second best in the OVC.

CATEGORY LEADERS:
Hits – Chris Worcester (34), Brett Stanley (22), Jake Ferguson (20)
Home Runs – Mike O'Conor/Ethan Rossi (4), Eli Hill (3), Three players with 2
RBI – Tyler Castro (18), Jake Ferguson (17), Mike O'Conor/Brett Stanley (16)
Strikeouts – Tyler Conklin (32), Tyler Kapraun (27), Dalton Boruff/Anthony Solis (23)
Wins – Tyler Conklin/Anthony Solis (3), Eli Cartwright (2), Three players with one

ON DECK: Next up for the Panthers is a home OVC series against UT Martin. Game one is scheduled for Friday, April 4th at 3 p.m., with games two and three following at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. 

Wednesday's previously scheduled game against IU Southeast was canceled due to weather.