FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 9, UT Martin 4
EASTERN ILLINOIS 9, UT MARTIN 4
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois baseball team (13-15, 5-3 OVC) defeated UT Martin (12-19, 3-5 OVC) by a score of 9-4 in a weather-shortened six-inning contest on Friday morning. The series finale previously scheduled to be played Friday afternoon was canceled.
EIU scored nine runs, all earned, on 10 hits and zero errors. Brett Stanley and Ethan Rossi led the Panthers with two hits apiece, while Joey Hagen's three RBIs were most on the team. Luke Melton also posted a multi-RBI performance, driving in two runs.
Tyler Kapraun (2-3) picked up his second win of the season after allowing two earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts through five innings.
A pair of errors in the top of the first allowed UT Martin to take a brief 1-0 lead, with Jalen Fithian scoring on Brody Capps sacrifice fly.
Following a Tyler Castro single and Mike O'Conor double, Jake Ferguson got EIU on the board with an RBI base hit before Joey Hagen crushed a ball to right center for a three-run home run. It was Hagan's first round-tripper of the season.
After Brett Stanley singled and stole second, Ethan Rossi drove in the fifth run of the inning with a two-out triple.
The Panthers padded their lead in the bottom of the third with an Eli Hill base hit that plated Stanley for the second time.
UTM put a dent in the lead in the fifth inning with a JT Popick leadoff home run followed by a Fithian RBI single that scored Tommy Koch, who had reached scoring position with a double.
However, the Panthers were determined to avoid a repeat of Thursday, when they saw a multi-run lead dissipate in a loss.
In the bottom of the fifth, Jake Ferguson was hit by a pitch to lead off the at-bat and moved to second on a Joey Hagen sacrifice bunt before scoring on a Brett Stanely RBI single.
After Eli Hill was hit by a pitch, Ethan Rossi singled through the left side to load the bases for Luke Melton, who delivered with a base hit down the left field line to stretch the EIU lead to 9-3.
The Skyhawks got one back in the sixth with a Peeko Townsend solo home run, but that would be the last run of the game, as the contest was suspended and later called due to inclement weather in the area.