WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 14, Western Illinois 0
Little Rock 11, @#5 Arkansas 4
Austin Peay 14,
@UT Martin 9
EASTERN ILLINOIS 14, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois baseball (17-12, 1-5 OVC) took care of business during the midweek after picking up a 14-0 win over Western Illinois (4-23, 1-5 Summit) at Coaches Stadium. Eastern Illinois scored 14 runs, their most in the last eight games.
Ryan Ignoffo sparked the offense after going 3-5 in the ballgame with a two-run home run in the first inning. Kolten Poorman also delivered his third home run of the season while Lucas DiLuca added two doubles and two RBI.
Jackson Nichols (W, 1-0) picked up his first win of the season after throwing in 5.2 innings and allowing just three hits and no runs. Caden Kratz (L, 0-2) suffered the loss for the Leathernecks after tossing the first five frames and allowing two runs on six hits.
The Panthers didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard against WIU as Ignoffo launched a two-run home run over the left field scoreboard in the first inning to give Eastern a 2-0 lead. Nichols would allow just one hit through the first three innings.
Both offenses sputtered after the first inning as Western would post only four base runners in the first six innings. EIU only added three hits in innings two through five.
Eastern Illinois would get back on track in the sixth when Poorman singled to the left side to bring home Ignoffo after a throwing error by the Leathernecks. Jack Potteiger would take over on the mound and get a double play to end the seventh inning.
The bottom half of the seventh saw a breakout for the Panthers offense that had been missing their last couple of games. DiLuca opened the inning with a double and was brought home by Logan Eickhoff. After a stolen base, Eickhoff would score with an RBI single by Ignoffo to bring the score to 5-0.
Runs kept coming in as Poorman would hit his three-run home run with two runners on in the seventh inning to increase the lead to 8-0. DiLuca smashed his second double of the inning into right field to bring home two more before the last run of the inning came in after a fielding error. EIU was leading 11-0 after seven.
Andrew Schroeder and Dylan Drumke would put the finishing touches on the game in the eighth inning with a two RBI double by Schroeder and a sacrifice fly by Drumke to bring the score to 14-0 heading into the ninth.
Closer Zane Robbins capped off an electric evening by striking out two in the final frame. EIU scored 14 runs on 17 hits with no errors. WIU scored no runs on four hits with two errors.
LITTLE ROCK 11, #5 ARKANSAS 4
FAYETEVILLE, Ark. - Junior Jacob Weatherley fanned six over the course of the final five innings and allowed just one run as the Trojans steadily built a large lead, culminating in a Little Rock victory over 5th ranked Arkansas 11-4 on Wednesday evening at Baum-Walker Stadium. The win improves the Trojans record to 18-12 on the season as they now look ahead to an Ohio Valley Conference weekend series at Eastern Illinois.
This win marks the second time that Little Rock has come up to Fayetteville and defeated the Razorbacks, with the first being in the first ever matchup between the programs on April 2, 2019, a game the Trojans won 17-7. Little Rock is now 2-4 all-time against Arkansas since 2019 and remains the only school within the state of Arkansas to beat the Razorbacks.
The Trojans went down early in the second inning when Arkansas was able to strike for three runs off of two homeruns in the frame, this would be the final time until the ninth that the Razorbacks were able to scratch any runs off of the Little Rock pitching staff.
Little Rock answered back immediately in the top of the third. Alex Seguine and Tyler Williams got on base with a walk and single before advancing to scoring position on a wild pitch. A single from Ty Rhoades scored Seguine and sent runners to first and third before a chopper from Syler Trevino snuck under the first baseman's glove and allowed Williams to scamper home. A sac fly off the bat of Luke Pectol brought Rhoades home and evened the score at three apiece.
It wouldn't be until the top of the sixth inning when the Trojans took the lead for good. With the bases loaded and one out, senior Jake Wright hit a jam shot towards the first base side of the pitcher's mound. Upon being fielded, the Razorback pitcher looked to go home for a potential 1-2-3 double play but stumbled, throwing the ball to the backstop and allowing two Little Rock runs to come home. One more Trojan run would come across in the inning on a groundout to first base as Little Rock doubled its run total in the inning from three to six.
Weatherley was able to work around a pair of Trojan errors in the bottom of the sixth to get back to the dugout with the lead intact. Little Rock continued with the momentum and stretched the lead out to seven runs in the seventh. Things began with a single to center from Noah Brewer and double struck by Christian Bernabe to score one run before Bernabe came home on the next hit, a single to left by Jaxson Anderson. Wright then came up to the plate with another big opportunity, this time taking advantage in a more conventional way. The senior from Bryant clubbed a 1-1 pitch into left field where it sailed over all defenders as well as the fence. The two run homer put the Trojans in the driver's seat for the remainder of the game.
Following a bottom of the seventh that saw Weatherley strike out two more hogs, both looking, Little Rock was able to add one more insurance run in the top of the eighth on a bases loaded wild pitch that brought Pectol home.
Both sides went down quietly in the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth as the Trojans were kept off the board for the first time since the fifth inning. Weatherley took the mound looking to close things out in the ninth and despite a meaningless run crossing the plate, struck out two including the final out to secure the win for Little Rock.
Five Trojans collected multiple hits on the day with Pectol leading the way in a 3-for-4 performance including a double, scoring twice and driving in one run.
Despite scoring 11 runs on the afternoon, only one Little Rock player had multiple RBI. Wright was the hitter to do this, bringing home two on his homerun in a 1-for-4 game.
Walks were a big reason for Tuesday's result and on Wednesday the tables had turned as Trojan hitters were able to work nine free passes off the Razorback staff.
Weatherley earned the win in the game for his efforts over the final 4.2 innings. The junior from Jonesboro struck out six and allowed just two hits on 107 pitches out of the bullpen.
AUSTIN PEAY 14, UT MARTIN 9
MARTIN, Tenn. - University of Tennessee at Martin utility man Mac Danford accounted for four hits and a pair of home runs this evening but Austin Peay rallied late to leave Skyhawk Field with a 14-9 win.
Making his fifth start of the season at catcher tonight, Danford drove in a career-high five runs while collecting his sixth multi-hit performance over his last 10 contests. The right-handed slugger from Grand Ridge, Fla. launched a solo homer in the third inning, hustled out an inside-the-park home run that scored two runs in the fifth and added a two-run single in the sixth to give UT Martin a 9-4 advantage. He would add a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth as the Skyhawks brought the tying run to the on-deck circle but the Governors held on.
Hunter McLean reached base safely four times with three hits (including a home run) and a walk while scoring three times and driving in a pair of runs for UT Martin (9-25). Caleb Hobson and Jack Culumovic added multi-hit games at the dish while Will Smith crossed the plate three times for the Skyhawks, who saw exactly half of their 14 hits go for extra-bases (three doubles, a triple, three home runs).
On the mound, Tucker Reed (two innings), Campbell Cleveland (0.2 innings), Colin Millar (0.1 innings) and Trey Ricko (0.2 innings) each did not allow an earned run out of the UT Martin bullpen.
Austin Peay (16-18) scored three runs in the top of the first but the Skyhawks’ patience in the bottom of the first resulted in one run. Smith (hit by pitch), McLean (walk) and Culumovic (hit by pitch) all reached with two away before Blaze Bell was hit by a pitch to earn an RBI and make the score 3-1.
Zach Wager kept the Governors off the scoreboard in the second inning, stranding a pair of runners. Austin Peay managed one run in the top of the third but the Skyhawks recovered for a three-spot in the bottom half of the frame to even things up at 4-all.
Smith lifted a triple off the wall in right field to start off the third and three pitches later, McLean lined a double to left field to pull UT Martin within two runs. After McLean advanced to third on a wild pitch, Culumovic displayed a good piece of hitting with an RBI groundout to the right side to make the score 4-3. Danford then deposited a 1-2 pitch beyond the wall in left field to tie up the score.
Reed appeared in the fourth and threw up a pair of zeroes on the scoreboard. He received some help from his defense in the fourth as the Skyhawks executed a perfect relay throw from Caleb Hobson to Blaze Bell to Danford at the plate to cut down a Governor trying to score. Reed then shut down the Austin Peay offense in the top of the fifth, swinging the momentum to UT Martin.
McLean cranked a round tripper out to left center to lead off the bottom of the fifth, giving the Skyhawks their first lead of the game. After a Culumovic double down the left field line against the shift, Danford lifted a one-hopper off the centerfield wall and scampered home for a two-run inside-the-park homer, extending UT Martin’s advantage out to 7-4.
J. Henry Hobson induced a pair of groundouts and a strikeout in a scoreless sixth while the Skyhawks added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning. Smith (walk), McLean (single) and Culumovic (walk) all reached base ahead of Danford, who came through with a clutch two-out single that brought in a pair of runs and made the score 9-4.
However, the Governors tied the game with five runs in the top of the seventh – including one unearned run. Austin Peay scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on a two-out single after Eli Martin (0-2) came so close to stranding the runner on third.
With UT Martin trailing 10-9, Culumovic nearly tied the ballgame in the eighth as he roped a two-out double off the very top of the wall in right center. The Governors recovered to get out of the jam and scored four runs (all unearned) in the top of the ninth.
The Skyhawks continued to fight as the first three batters in the bottom of the ninth (Danford, pinch-hitter Jonah Wichman and Zac Rice) each singled to load the bases with no outs. Just as it did during the previous inning, Austin Peay bounced back to end UT Martin’s threat.