Eastern Illinois 24-15 (12-6 OVC) at Bradley 8-36 (4-14 MVC) 

April 29th | Peoria, Illinois | Dozer Park  

Wednesday at 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats
 

Eastern Illinois (24-15, 12-6 OVC) vs. SEMO (31-13, 12-6 OVC) 

May 1-3 | Charleston, Illinois | Frost Field at Coaches Stadium  

Game 1: Friday at 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats   

Game 2: Saturday at 5:00 PM | Live Stats 

Game 3: Sunday at 1:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats

Eastern Illinois heads to Peoria to face in-state opponent Bradley University in a midweek contest. Then, EIU will stay home this weekend for a pivotal OVC series against SEMO. The Panthers enter the week with a 24-15 (12-6 OVC) record, which is the second-best record in the state of Illinois.  

Last Time Out 
The Panthers went 3-1 last week with a series win over UT Martin. In the midweek contest, EIU beat Butler for the second time this season.  

At the plate, Mike O'Conor was red-hot, batting .389 with 18 total bases, seven hits, six RBIs, and three home runs, including two in the Sunday loss.  

Tyler Castro led the team in on-base percentage at .647 with six walks. Castro finished the week hitting .455 and five hits in 11 at-bats.  

Quade Peters has continued to produce after returning from injury, hitting .429 with six hits and three RBIs this past week.  

On the mound, the Panthers struggled, allowing 30 runs over the course of the four games. James Geshel was nominated for OVC Pitcher of the Week, allowing two earned runs in 4.2 innings of work. Geshel held opposing batters to a .154 batting average.   

Mac Zawistoski was also strong in his two appearances, finishing with a 3.38 ERA in 5.1 innings of work. He held opponents to a .238 batting average while collecting three strikeouts.  

James Love 
Love extended his on-base streak to 43 straight games this past week, which is tied for the fourth-best streak in the NCAA D1.  

Top Ten On-Base Streaks in NCAA D1 

1. Brayden Martin, Maryland (74) 

2. Owen Prince, VMI (52) 

3. Kelvin Agosto, Gardner-Webb (44) 

4. Drew Barragan UNLV (43) 

James Love, EIU (43) 

Mac Moyer, Nebraska (43) 

Lane Haworth, UTSA (43) 

8. Joe Connolly, Western Illinois (42) 

9. Ryan Gerety, Northeastern (40) 

10. Hunter Warren, Wright State (40) 

New Program Record: Tyler Conklin 
Conklin now holds the most career wins in EIU history after earning his 24th victory against UT Martin. On Friday, Conklin collected his seventh win of the season, which ranks first in the OVC. With a 7-2 record, he holds a 5.69 ERA in 61.2 innings of work. 

Panthers Pitching Staff Ranks Among NCAA's Elite  
Three pitchers each rank among the top 20 in individual pitching categories. James Geshel ranks 19th in the NCAA D1 in total saves this season with 8, which is three shy of the single season record at Eastern Illinois. Tyler Conklin ranks 16th in the country in victories with seven on the season. Bryce Riggs continues his dominant junior campaign, ranking 3rd in the country in hits allowed per nine innings at 5.05. Riggs also ranks 7th in the NCAA D1 with a 0.89 WHIP.  

About Bradley 
Bradley is currently on a nine-game losing skid and holds an 8-36 (4-14 MVC) record. The Braves suffered a series sweep against Illinois State last time out.  Bradley is 3-5 against OVC teams this season, with wins over SIUE and two against UT Martin. Bradley is led by first-year head coach Justin Dedman, who previously served as the recruiting coordinator at Loyola Marymount University. Prior to LMU, he was the Director of Player Development at the University of Missouri.  

Offensively, the Braves are led by Landon Lowe, who is currently hitting .376, which is the second best in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Braves hold two top-five spots in stolen bases: Hayden Miller (18) and Michael Quick (14).  

About SEMO 
SEMO faces Missouri in a midweek contest before traveling to Charleston, Illinois, for a key OVC series. The RedHawks hold an impressive 31-13 (12-6 OVC) record after earning the series win over SIUE. SEMO is led by Andy Sawyers, who is in his 10th season at the helm. Coach Sawyers is led by Joe Hall, who was named OVC Player of the Week on Monday, April 27th. Hall is currently hitting .361 with 44 RBIs and 66 hits on the season. Right behind him, Caleb Klein is hitting .330 on the season with 35 RBIs. Klein ranks 2nd in the OVC in runs scored with 54 and 1st in the conference in hit-by-pitches with 17.  

As a team, they rank 3rd in the OVC in batting average at .303 and 2nd in RBIs at 311. SEMO also ranks 1st in the OVC in walks drawn at 208. On the mound, the RedHawks rank 8th in OVC in team ERA at 5.01 but rank 1st in the conference in strikeouts at 372.  

Series History  
EIU is 45-36 all-time against Bradley, with the first matchup taking place in 1922, in which the Braves won 6-4. Eastern Illinois won the last meeting 14-9 in 2024.  

Eastern Illinois and SEMO are split 38-38 all-time, with the first matchup taking place in 2001. The RedHawks won the 2001 meeting 6-2 and have won the last two games against EIU. In 2025, SEMO won the season series 2-1. 

Conference Standings  
With three OVC series left to play, the race for the number one seed is tightly contested. As of April 27th, there is a four-way tie for first place between EIU, SEMO, Little Rock, and SIUE. Each team holds a 12-6 OVC record, while Lindenwood is right behind the pack, sitting in 5th place with a 10-8 OVC record. Morehead State is 6th at 8-10, and UT Martin is tied with Western Illinois for the 7th seed to round out the top eight.  

Quick Hitters  
The Panthers are batting .294 as a team this season with a conference best .412 on-base percentage. EIU also leads the OVC in sacrifice hits (44), which ranks 6th best in the nation. 

Six EIU players are batting over .300 on the season, led by Mike O'Conor, who is hitting .345. O'Conor also leads the team in home runs with 11 and ranks 19th in the country with a .743 slugging percentage. 

Chris Worcester is hitting .324 and leads the team in RBIs with 38.  

On the mound, the Panthers are led by Bryce Riggs, who holds a 2.86 ERA, which ranks 3rd in the OVC. Riggs is 6-1, collecting a league's best 63 strikeouts in 66.0 innings of work.   

Category Leaders 
Hits: Brett Stanley (53), James Love (49), Chris Worcester (46), Tyler Castro (41), Mike O'Conor (39) 

Home Runs: Mike O'Conor (11), Chris Worcester (8), James Love (6), Peyton Wilson (4), Ethan Rossi (3) 

RBIs: Chris Worcester (38), James Love (38), Mike O'Conor (35), Peyton Wilson (29), Brett Stanley (23) 

Strikeouts: Bryce Riggs (63), Anthony Solis (34), Tyler Conklin (28) 

Wins: Tyler Conklin (7), Bryce Riggs (6), Anthony Solis (2)