Panthers Win Over Memphis Friday

The Eastern Illinois baseball team jumped ahead of Memphis 6-1, and looked as if they would cruise to a series opening victory. After Memphis scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth, the Panthers once again saw themselves ahead of the Tigers. The two teams would battle back-and-forth, but the Panthers came out on top in the end for the 10-9 victory in 11 innings.

EIU improves to 2-15 on the season, and 2-0 in extra-inning games. Memphis falls to 6-11 overall. The two teams will return to action Saturday for a 2 p.m. start.

The Panthers jumped ahead early with a run in both the first and second innings. In the first inning, Joseph Duncan singled to start the game. After moving himself into scoring position by stealing second base, Duncan touched home on a Cale Hennemann single to put EIU ahead 1-0.

The scoring continued for the Panthers in the second inning as Mitch Gasbarro drew a four-pitch walk and Josh Turnock singled to put runners at the corners for Jason Scholl. Scholl drove a ball out to right field that was deep enough to bring home Gasbarro and add another run to the Panthers total.

For the third-straight inning, the Panthers lead-off man reached base as Dane Toppel found a hole in the left side of the Tiger defense for a single. Toppel swiped second base to put himself into scoring position. The Toppel steal worked in the Panthers favor as Demetre Taylor doubled to left to bring in Toppel, as the Panthers led 3-0.

EIU starting pitcher Michael McCormick cruised on the mound as he shut down the Tiger offense in order in the third inning.

The Tigers got to the EIU starter in the fourth inning. With runners on second and third and one down, Jacob Elliott reached on an infield single and drove in a run to cut into the Panthers lead. A key double play helped the Panthers escape the jam. Frankie Perrone caught a fly ball out in right field and threw home to catch Jake Little before he could reach the plate to keep the score at 3-1 after three frames.

The Panthers carried that momentum into the top half of the fifth inning. Duncan legged out an infield single to start the inning and moved up a bag after stealing second base. Memphis pitcher Colton Hathcock got the next two Panthers out, as Colton Neel came in for Hathcock to finish the inning. The pitching change would not work in the Tigers favor however as Taylor singled up the middle for his second RBI of the game.

With runners on second and third and only one down in the sixth inning, the Panthers were in prime position to add some more runs. Nick Maton provided the first RBI on the inning with a double to right field to score Gasbarro. Duncan added another run for EIU on the next play with an RBI groundout to the Memphis third baseman to score Turnock.

The Tigers answered back with a big scoring inning of their own in the bottom half of the sixth. With the bases loaded and no outs, Brandon Grudzielanek drove in a pair of runs with a single to right field and chased EIU starter McCormick. Andy Fisher came in relief for McCormick, but the Memphis bats stayed hot. Trent Turner provided a two-run triple, as Darien Tubbs followed with an RBI double out to right field. Memphis added their final run of the inning with an RBI single to jump ahead of the Panthers 7-6.

Hennemann doubled to lead-off the seventh inning. After the Memphis pitching staff got the next two Panthers to ground out, it appeared as if EIU would miss out on a scoring opportunity. Memphis pitcher Trey McNickle threw a wild pitch that allowed Hennemann to cross the plate and tie the game at 7-7.

Fisher settled in for the Panthers and shut down Memphis in order in the bottom half of the frame to keep the momentum on the EIU side.

Maton provided the big blast for the Panthers in the top of the eighth inning, as the freshman hit his first home run of his collegiate career to put EIU out front 8-7.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Little provided Memphis with a go-ahead two-run single up the middle as the Tigers regained the lead 9-8 headed into the final frame.

Eastern Illinois has been a ninth inning team, having outscored their opponents 8-2 entering the game, and kept true to their nature. Hunter Morris started the inning with a single to left and moved up 90 feet following a Hennemann sacrifice bunt. Taylor singled to right and Perrone walked to load the bases for Gasbarro. The senior came through in the clutch for the Panthers with an RBI sacrifice fly to score Morris and tie the game at 9-9.

After a scoreless 10th inning by both the Panthers and Tigers, Eastern Illinois pulled ahead with a run in the top of the 11th. Gasbarro once again came up in a big spot for EIU. With Taylor standing on second base, Gasbarro drove a ball out to center for a double and brought home Taylor to put EIU ahead 10-9.

Jake Haberer allowed a lead-off single in the 11th, but shut down the Memphis offense to seal the 10-9 victory for the Panthers.

Haberer (1-0) picked up the win for EIU tossing three innings of scoreless relief. Nolan Blackwood (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing two runs in three innings on the mound.

Duncan, Hennemann, Maton, and Taylor all finished with multiple hits for the Panthers, as Taylor led the way going 3-for-5 in the opener.