The Eastern Illinois Panthers dominate in their opening contest of the four-game weekend series against Florida A&M, 13-4. EIU earns their first win of their season, while the Rattlers fall to 0-1.
EIU wasted no time to start their 2026 season, scoring four runs in the first inning, followed by a three-run second inning. Kyree Alexander earned the Panthers first hit of the season with a base hit. EIU struck first when James Love doubled to right field, scoring Alexander.
Shortly after, with three runners on, a FAMU wild pitch scored Brett Stanley. With two outs, another wild pitch gave the Panthers' their third run of the first inning. Peyton Wilson scored the fourth run during an Ethan Rossi rundown to end the inning. First time on the mound, Tyler Conklin made quick work of the Rattlers' offense, striking out two batters.
EIU opened the top half of the second inning with Quade Peters reaching first on an error. Tyler Castro, who went 3-5 on the day, hit a line drive to third base to score Peters on a throwing error. The high-powered offense continued when Zac Goodwin singled to right field, earning two RBIs, scoring Wilson and Love.
Florida A&M found the scoreboard for the first time when the Panthers committed three straight errors, leading to Ryals scoring an unearned run.
The next two innings were smooth sailing for both pitchers until Ethan Rossi doubled to center field to start the top of the 5th inning. Castro brought home Rossi with a base hit to center field. The Rattlers made a pitching change, but EIU was unfazed, scoring two more runs led by a Stanley base hit and Love sacrifice fly. The Panthers headed into the second half of the game with a 10-1 lead.
The Rattlers found life after the seventh-inning stretch, scoring two runs off of Mac Zawistoski. Crews and Brown each had an RBI base hit to cut the deficit to six.
Eastern Illinois finalized the game in the eighth inning with three final runs. A Rossi base hit led to another FAMU error, allowing Goodwin to score from second. With two outs, Peters took advantage of the Rattlers' 5th error of the game, reaching first and bringing home Rossi and O'Conor.
In the 9th inning, Florida A&M had runners in scoring position, looking to extend the game, but A.J. Hiestand avoided any potential trouble, retiring the side on a fly out to Peters.
By The Numbers:
Tyler Castro led the Panthers, going 3-5 on the day with an RBI.
Zak Goodwin went 2-4 with two RBIs and a walk.
James Love went 1-3 with two RBIs and a double.
Brett Stanley and Ethan Rossi each recorded an RBI of their own
Tyler Conklin faced 23 batters on the mound, striking out five and allowing only two hits. A.J. Hiestand finished the game for the Panthers with two strikeouts.
EIU will face Florida A&M for a doubleheader tomorrow, starting at 1:00 PM. The Panthers will wrap up their weekend series in Tallahassee, Florida, on Sunday.
