EIU Drops 8-3 Loss to Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  – The Panther baseball team dropped an 8-3 contest at No. 2 Vanderbilt on Tuesday afternoon at Hawkins Field. EIU opens Ohio Valley Conference action on March 8-10 at SIUE.

Trailing 8-0 heading into the top of the seventh, the Panthers (3-8) scored three runs on three hits and one Vanderbilt error to cut its deficit to five (8-5). The rally fell short as Vanderbilt’s Tyler Ferguson retired the final six EIU batters.

The Commodores (13-1) posted seven more hits (15-8) than EIU and committed two more errors (2-0). The Panthers left three more runners on base (9-6) in the loss.

Caleb Howell led the team at the plate as the sophomore outfielder went 2-for-2 with one run. Cameron Berra also added two hits, including a double.

“We needed (Cameron) Berra to play well today,” said Eastern Illinois head coach Jim Schmitz. “He missed some playing time after the opening weekend with an injury, so it’s a great sign for us leading into OVC play this weekend.”

Jaden Widdersheim, a Stewardson-Strasburg graduate (1-3) was tagged with the loss, surrendering six hits and four runs in two innings of work. He had one walk and one strikeout. All told, the Panthers used five relief pitchers that combined to only allow four runs with four strikeouts against the nationally ranked foe.

“All of our relief pitchers played well this afternoon,” Schmitz added. “We needed our relief pitchers limit walks and hit batters heading into the OVC weekend.”

Walker Buehler (1-0) earned the win for Vanderbilt, striking out four batters in six scoreless innings. Spencer Navin led the Commodores at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.