WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 22, @Arkansas-Pine Bluff 6
@Austin Peay 15,
Southern Indiana 5
EASTERN ILLINOIS 22, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 6
PINE BLUFF, Ark. - The Eastern Illinois baseball team (7-11, 0-0 OVC) closed out their brief midweek series at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-20, 0-3 SWAC) with an emphatic 22-6 run-rule victory on Wednesday afternoon.
The Panthers racked up 21 earned runs on 14 hits, as 11 different EIU batters recorded knocks in the contest. Tyler Castro led the way with a 2-3, three RBI outing, while Zak Goodwin went 2-5 with two RBIs.
Mike O'Conor matched Castro with three RBIs, while Chris Worcester went 2-3 at the plate for his fourth consecutive multi-hit outing.
Five Eastern pitchers made appearances, with Eli Cartwright picking up his second win of the season after throwing two scoreless innings in relief with no hits allowed and four strikeouts.
Despite the massive offensive performance, the Panthers scored no runs on zero hits through the game's first two innings, with Pine Bluff taking an early lead on a Rodriguez RBI single in the first.
EIU's first offensive breakthrough came in the third inning, with Chris Worcester reaching on a lead-off triple before scoring on a Tyler Castro base hit in the next at-bat.
After Pierce Bauerle and Zak Goodwin both singled to load up the bases with no outs, Castro came home on a passed ball to give Eastern their first lead.
Ethan Rossi was intentionally walked to load the bases again for Cade Zalewski, who was hit by a pitch to advance Bauerle home before a Brett Stanley sacrifice fly scored Goodwin to make the score 4-1.
The Lions got two runs back in the bottom of the third before a pair of errors in the fourth allowed two more runs to score to put UAPB back ahead 5-4.
It was short-lived, however, as Eastern put up their second crooked number of the game in the fifth to regain a commanding lead. The Panthers scored six runs in the frame, all with two outs.
After three consecutive walks loaded the bases, Stanley scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. Worcester was walked later in the at-bat to reload the pads before Tyler Castro delivered a double that plated Quade Peters and Jake Ferguson.
The inning unraveled even further for Pine Bluff when another wild pitch allowed Worcester to score before Mike O'Conor finished things off with a two-run home run to left field to extend the lead to 10-5.
Following a scoreless sixth inning, the Panthers offense exploded for 12 runs in the seventh, which was their biggest inning of the season thus far.
10 Eastern batters came to the plate with nine runs scoring before the first out was recorded. There were a total of 15 at-bats in the frame, with eight resulting in hits, including RBI doubles from Ethan Rossi, James Love, Jake Ferguson, and Colin Horneman.
Mike O'Conor, Zak Goodwin, and Jake Ottensmeier also posted RBIs as part of the huge inning.
Pine Bluff needed eight runs in their half of the frame to avoid the run-rule, but were only able to muster one, ending the game after seven.
AUSTIN PEAY 15, SOUTHERN INDIANA 5
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - University of Southern Indiana Baseball started this week's action with a 15-5 loss at Austin Peay State University Wednesday afternoon in Clarksville, Tennessee. USI is 8-12 overall after today's game, while Austin Peay State University goes 15-7 this year.
The Screaming Eagles got out in front early with a pair of runs in the first and one in the top of the second. Junior first baseman Kannon Coakley put the Eagles on the board to start the scoring with an RBI single, while junior leftfielder BJ Banyon knocked in the second tally with a second RBI single for the 2-0 lead.
After the Governors cut the lead in half with a tally in the bottom of the first, junior catcher Micajah Wall gave USI a 3-1 lead with a bomb over the center field wall. The home run was Wall's first of the season and first as a Screaming Eagle.
APSU responded to the Wall home run with a five spot in the bottom of the second to take a 6-3 lead. USI junior designated hitter Cole Kitchens pulled the Eagles back to within two runs, 6-4, on a home run to left field. The home run was Kitchens' team-high third of the year.
Kitchens finished the day two-for-two and raised his batting average to a team-high and Ohio Valley Conference-best .460. He also is batting .568 (21-37) in the last 10 games.
The Governors scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to put themselves up 8-4. USI cut into the lead once again in the top of the fifth to 8-5 when senior centerfield Khi Holiday scored after junior shortstop Clayton Slack reached on an error.
The 8-5 score would be as close as USI would come the rest of the game as APSU finalized the scoring with seven in the bottom of the eighth for the 15-5 decision.
On the mound, junior lefthander Jake Porter started and took the loss for the Eagles. Porter allowed six runs, four earned on five hits and one walk, while striking out two in two frames of work.