SIU Wins, EIU Drops Three

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- A five-run fourth inning vaulted SIUE to an 8-5 win over Murray State in game one of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at Simmons Baseball Complex.

The Cougars improved to 4-0 in OVC play and 4-9 overall with the win. The Racers fell to 6-12 overall and 2-2 in the OVC.

"We got the first one under our belts and we can focus on winning tomorrow," SIUE Head Coach Tony Stoecklin said. "There were a lot of good things today. One of the key things was no errors for us on defense."

After falling behind 1-0 in the first, the Cougars took the lead for good with two runs in the second inning on RBIs by Chase Green and Skyler Geissinger. Geissinger added an RBI-single and Dustin Woodcock had a two-run triple in the five-run fourth which made it 7-1 SIUE. Geissinger drove home a run in the fifth as well and finished the day 4 for 4 with three RBIs.

Effingham's Chase Green had a single and drove in a run. He also scored two runs.

Parker Guinn's two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted SIUE to an 8-7 win over Murray State in the second game of a three-game series Sunday at Simmons Baseball Complex.

"Their guy made a mistake," SIUE Head Coach Tony Stoecklin said. "Parker had fouled off a 2-0 pitch and he was right on it. So he had him dialed in. I thought if he made another mistake Parker would put a charge into it. You don't expect a home run you just expect him to hit the ball hard. The guy made the mistake and Parker had him timed."

SIUE improved to a perfect 5-0 in the OVC and 5-9 overall with the win. Murray State dropped to 6-13 overall and 2-3 in the OVC.

Guinn's home run followed a one-out single by Keaton Wright and came against Murray State reliever Tyler Anderson. Anderson dropped to 1-2 with the loss. Green had a double.  

Memphis Takes Three From EIU

MEMPHIS -- Eastern Illinois had a strong effort from starting pitcher Matt Wivinis but Memphis starter Caleb Wallingford was dealing on Saturday night during a 6-1 Tigers win.  EIU and Memphis will wrap up the series with a doubleheader on Sunday.

Wallingford allowed just one EIU hit as the Panthers scored one run against the left-hander in the eighth inning.  Wallingford (2-1) put Demetre Taylor on base with a hit by pitch in the eighth.  Taylor came around to score on a RBI double by Mitch Gasbarro.  Blake Myers allowed a hit to Caleb Howell in the ninth before closing out the game.

Memphis scored in the first inning against Wivinis as Darien Tubbs singled and came around to score on a ground out.  Wivinis (0-3) worked 6.1 innings and was solid until getting in trouble in the seventh.  Memphis scored five runs to open up the game.  Wivinis allowed four hits and four runs in the loss.

Eastern Illinois fell behind early in game one and then surrendered a couple of late runs in game two as they dropped both games on Sunday’s doubleheader at Memphis.  The Tigers won the first game 11-1 and the second game 5-2.
 
EIU fell to 0-13 on the season and will play on Tuesday night at nationally ranked Mississippi State.  Memphis swept the weekend series improving to 9-4.

“I made some changes that hurt us defensively today,” said EIU head coach Jim Schmitz.  “In the first game our starting pitcher was not sharp.  We played much better in the second game but came up short.”