Eastern Illinois suffered a heartbreaking loss in 14 innings to open the key weekend series. EIU falls to 21-12 (10-3 OVC), while Little Rock improves to 21-17 (9-4 OVC).
An old-fashioned OVC battle ended with Little Rock winning on a walk-off single in the 14th inning. Panthers went one, two, three in the top half of the 14th inning, setting up a potential game winner.
The Trojans took advantage and wasted no time moving into scoring position. With Dalton Boruff on the mound, Blake Simpson doubled to deep left field, followed by Ty Rhoades reaching on an intentional walk. After a wild pitch, the game's winning run was 90 feet away. Cooper Chaplain singled to right field, stunning the Panther faithful with a walk-off base hit.
Despite the loss, the Panthers offense was rolling, scoring two runs in the second inning for an early lead. After a Joey Hagen walk, Mike O'Conor doubled to right center to break open the scoring. O'Conor advanced to third on a Zak groundout and later scored on a passed ball.
Little Rock quickly responded with three runs of their own in the third. The Trojans' lead did not last long as EIU scored a run in the 6th, followed by two more runs in the 7th.
O'Conor drove Love in from third base after hitting a single to right center. The 7th inning scoring was highlighted by Little Rock miscues. Quade Peters and Brett Stanley each earned a walk, and both advanced on a passed ball. Chris Worcester reached on a fielder's choice, but Peters was thrown out at home to keep the Panthers off the board.
Love continued his on-base streak with a double to deep center field, retaking the lead with a 5-3 advantage after scoring Stanley and Worcester.
The tug-of-war continued as Little Rock tagged on a run in the 8th inning. Heading into the final three outs, EIU led 5-4, but their advantage was erased by the home team's hero. Chaplain homered to deep right field to keep the Trojans alive, forcing extra innings.
Panthers had multiple opportunities to control the momentum, but 14 stranded runners held EIU off the scoreboard. In the first three extra innings, Eastern Illinois had a runner 90 feet away from home plate but was unable to capitalize on their positioning.
By The Numbers:
EIU: 6 Runs, 10 Hits, 2 Errors
Little Rock: 7 Runs, 17 Hits, 0 Errors
Mike O'Conor: 3-6 with 2 RBIs, 2B
Joey Hagen: 1-2 with 3 BB
James Love: 2-7 with 2 RBIs, 2B
Zak Goodwin: 1-4, 2B
Chris Worcester: 2-6, 2B
Brett Stanley: 1-6, 2B
Up Next: Panthers will continue the weekend series on Saturday with the first pitch set for 4:00 PM.
