Photo Gallery (by Dayton Simpson)

CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois baseball team (16-17, 6-5 OVC) picked up a convincing midweek win with a 13-3 run-rule victory over Saint Xavier (22-19, 15-9 CCAC) at Coaches Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

The win boosted EIU's all-time record against SXU to 3-1 and stands as their largest margin of victory against the Cougars to date.

Twelve of the Panthers' 13 runs were earned as they racked up 14 hits on the day. Chris Worcester led the charge with three hits in six at-bats while driving in a team-high three runs.

Brett Stanley and Colin Horneman also posted multi-hit, multi-RBI performances with two hits and two RBIs apiece. Meanwhile Mike O'Conor joined the multi-hit club going 2-4 with an RBI.

Five EIU pitchers saw action in the game, with starter Christian Carew getting his fourth win of the season after allowing no earned runs on two hits with four strikeouts through two innings.

However, Saint Xavier did score an unearned run against Carew in the top of the first, with Sean Moore stealing second and advancing to third on an error before scoring on a Justin Massingale groundout to give SXU an early lead.

The Panthers responded with a crooked number in the bottom of the second, beginning with an Ethan Rossi leadoff home run to tie to game. It was Rossi's fifth long ball of the season, tying him for the team lead.

With two outs, Chris Worcester pushed Eastern in front with an RBI single that plated Pierce Bauerle, who had doubled earlier in the inning. Brett Stanley followed that up with his own double that allowed Worcester to score all the way from first to extend the lead.

Mike O'Conor kept the two-out rally going with an RBI base hit before moving into scoring position after James Love was hit by a pitch. Jake Ferguson then finished the job with another RBI base hit to make the score 5-1.

Saint Xavier got one back in the top of the third with Sean Moore scoring on another Justin Massingale RBI groundout, but an inning later EIU widened the gap with three more runs.

The first run of the inning was scored by Mike O'Conor, who advanced from first to home after a fielding error by the SXU shortstop trickled into no-man's land in centerfield. Meanwhile, James Love advanced to second and moved to third on a wild throw from the outfield.

Jake Ferguson was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat before James Love completed his journey around the basepath on a wild pitch. After the next two Eastern batters were also plunked, Ferguson scored on a groundout to extend the lead to 8-1.

Following a scoreless fifth, a Michael Flier RBI double trimmed one run off the lead the Saint Xavier, but the Panthers countered with another three-run frame in the bottom of the sixth to tighten their grip on the contest.

All three runs were scored with two outs, with Chris Worcester singling to drive in Quade Peters and Joey Hagen before scoring on a Brett Stanley RBI double to left center.

Lukas Touma and Slater Wilcox held the Cougars scoreless in the seventh and eighth before a Colin Horneman solo homer in the bottom of the eighth brought the Panthers within one run a finishing the game off an inning early.

Then, after Quade Peters walked and advanced to third on a Chris Worcester double, a wild pitch allowed Peters to take the final 90 feet and walk it off for EIU.

Next up for the Panthers is a home OVC series against Tennessee Tech. Game one is currently set for Thursday, April 17th at 3 p.m.