Area Graduates Compete for EIU, SIUE Baseball Teams

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Murray State spoiled Eastern Illinois home opener on Saturday afternoon as the Racers jumped on top with nine runs in the first inning as they won 18-7 in the first game of the weekend Ohio Valley Conference series at Coaches Stadium.

Murray State did all of its damage in the first inning with two outs as EIU starter Garrison Stenger (0-6) struck out the first batter and then John Devito threw out Matthew Johnson attempting to steal for the second out. The next nine Racers batters all reached base with three walks and seven hits.  Taylor Matthews drove home the first two runs with a bases loaded single to right.  Murray State’s third run came on a double steal as Derek Yoder stole home.  Kipp Moore and Johnson both added two run homers in the inning.

EIU put together a small rally of its own in the bottom of the first.  Brant Valach doubled home Cale Hennemann for the Panthers first run. Jason Scholl added an RBI single to right.

Murray State responded with four runs in the second as the Panthers bullpen used three pitchers in the first two innings and seven pitchers for the day.  Anthony Bayus led off the inning with a solo home run while Nick Moore added a three run shot. The Racers finished the game with six home runs.

“It was a rough start for our home opener.  Our starting pitching was not sharp today and put us in an early hole,” said EIU head coach Jim Schmitz.  “I did like how we battled back and I thought Andrew Grahn (North Clay) was good out of the bullpen.  Starting pitching is the key and we didn’t have that today.”

Grahn pitched three scoreless innings for EIU allowing one hit while striking out three batters. Brock Downey (4-3) picked up the win for Murray State working five innings. Tanner Edge got his first save of the season working the final four innings.

EIU scored single runs in the third and fourth innings as Valach hit a solo home run in the third and Joe Duncan had an RBI double to left center in the fourth. Valach was 3-for-5 while Duncan was 2-for-4 to lead EIU.

Murray State added five more runs in the sixth inning as Pokey Harris had a three run home run.  Harris was one of four Murray State players with multiple hits in the game going 2-for-6 with four RBI.  Bayus led the Racers at the plate going 3-for-5.

Freshman Bobby Wenthe, a Teutopolis High School graduate, hit a two run home run in the bottom of the eighth and Alex Cain had an RBI single in the ninth.

Eastern Illinois could never gain the lead in the first game on Sunday and in the second game of the Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader the Panthers could not make an early lead hold up as they lost 8-4 and 8-2 to Murray State on Sunday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.

EIU falls to 0-20 on the season 0-9 in the OVC.  The Panthers will host Illinois State on Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m.  Murray State improved to 11-17, 7-5 in the OVC.

“We are just not putting together the different phases of the game.  In the second game today we took the lead and committed an error that gave it back to them.  When you are 0-20 everyone is fragile,” said EIU head coach Jim Schmitz.   “Yesterday we didn’t pitch in the opener.  In the game one today we didn’t hit and in the second game we didn’t play defense.  We will just keep plugging away.  I thought we might be able to get a couple of wins this weekend playing at home but right now we are not playing good baseball.”

Game One Recap

Eastern Illinois battled to tie the game two times in middle innings but could never take the lead as they lost the opener 8-4 to Murray State.  The Racers scored three runs in the first three innings as Nick Moore drove home the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the second.  The Racers second run of the inning scored on a throwing error.  MSU scored its run in the third inning on a double by Tyler Lawrence that scored Matt McGowan.  McGowan opened the inning with a double down the left line.

Game Two Recap

EIU was sharp in the first inning as starter Matt Wivinis shut down the first three Murray State batters in order. The Panthers then provided a two-run cushion for the starter as Howell had an RBI double and Demetre Taylor added an sacrifice fly.

The Panthers then committed two errors in the top of the second that allowed Murray State to take the lead.Nick Moore had a big two run single to right field to give MSU the lead.Andrew Bayus scored on a squeeze bunt for the Racers first run.

T-town's Wenthe had one at-bat but did not reach base.

SIUE Drops Two Of Three To Southeast Missouri State

EDWARDSVILLE -- SIUE overcame a 4-1 deficit Friday to defeat Southeast Missouri 8-4 in the opener of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at Simmons Baseball Complex.

"Winning the first game of the series is important, but not mandatory," said Head Coach Tony Stoecklin. "Last weekend we lost the first game against Tennessee Tech and came back to win the series, but it certainly doesn't hurt our chances to win the first game."

Nick Lombardo and Alec Saikal each had three hits for the Cougars. Effingham High School graduate Chase Green picked up two hits and two RBIs.

Southeast Missouri starter Joey Lucchesi struck out 11 hitters over seven innings Saturday as the Redhawks took game two of a three-game series 10-0 over SIUE.

The Cougars dropped to 9-12 overall and 9-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference, maintaining a one-game edge over Southeast with the win. The Redhawks are 16-10 overall and 8-3 in the OVC.

"Pitching and defense is what wins games," SIUE Head Coach Tony Stoecklin said. "Southeast Missouri did that today. They had no errors and they didn't give up many hits."

Lucchesi improved to 4-0 with the win. He allowed just two hits and walked three.

"He did a nice job," Stoecklin said of Lucchesi. "He had our hitters baffled."

Brady Wright and Ryan Lenanburg closed out the game for Southeast with a scoreless inning each.

Green, Dustin Woodcock, and Austin Verschoore each had a single hit for the Cougars.

Southeast Missouri State scored 22 times on 18 hits Sunday for a 22-8 win over SIUE in the final game of a three-game series at Simmons Baseball Complex.

The Redhawks won two of three to hand SIUE its first Ohio Valley Conference series loss of the year.

"(Southeast Missouri) came in here and competed," SIUE Head Coach Tony Stoecklin said. They did their job which was to win the series."

The Cougars and Redhawks are tied atop the OVC standings with identical 9-3 records. The Cougars dropped to 9-13 overall. Southeast Missouri is 18-10 overall.

The two teams took advantage of windy conditions combining for six home runs for the day.

Green had two singles for SIUE.