Tuesday, March 4th | 6 p.m.
Champaign, Ill. | Illinois Field
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LEADING OFF: The Eastern Illinois baseball team makes the short trip up I-57 on Tuesday for a Prairie State showdown against Illinois.
SERIES HISTORY: In a series that dates back to 1960, the Panthers are 26-56 all-time against the Fighting Illini. The in-state foes faced off in all but two seasons between 1980 and 2016 before the series went on a five-year hiatus. Eastern has taken two of three against Illinois since the rivalry resumed in 2022.
ILLINOIS:
- The Fighting Illini enter this week’s game with a record of 6-4 after going 1-2 at the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic over the weekend. Illinois suffered losses against Texas Tech and Texas with a win against Washington.
- Three Illinois players were named to the Big Ten’s preseason Players to Watch list, including right-handed pitcher Ben Plumley along with catcher Jacob Schroeder and first baseman Drake Westcott.
- Illinois is batting .300 as a team this season with 91 runs scored on 106 hits, while the pitching staff has a combined ERA of 6.78.
- The Illini are led by head coach Dan Hartleb. Now in his 20th season at Illinois, Hartleb is the winningest coach in school history with a career record of 571-423-1.
Eastern fell 12-5 in Friday’s series opener as Ethan Rossi went 3-4 with a two-run homer.
In game two, the Panthers possessed a late one-run lead before a pair of unearned runs in the eighth gave Peay a narrow 5-4 win. Tyler Conklin had another strong outing with a line of three earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts through six complete innings.
EIU fell 9-2 in the series finale as they were unable to overcome an early offensive barrage from the Governors. Nate Marshall made his Eastern debut on the mound, pitching two perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts.
OLD STOMPING GROUNDS: EIU head coach Jason Anderon played at Illinois from 1998-2000, where he was a First Team All-American selection and named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in his final season. Following a decade-long professional playing career, he returned to Champaign as assistant coach for the Illini and graduated from Illinois with his bachelor’s degree in 2012. He is 3-2 against his alma mater as the head coach at EIU.
CATEGORY LEADERS:
Hits – Brett Stanley/Peyton Wilson (9), Sam Wiese (8), Pierce Bauerle/Chris Worcester (7)
Home Runs – Luke Melton/Brett Stanley/Ethan Rossi (1)
RBI – Brett Stanley (6), Cade Zalewski & Zak Goodwin (5), Pierce Bauerle/Eli Hill (4)
Strikeouts – Tyler Conklin (15), Dalton Boruff (11), Three players with 4
ON DECK: The Panthers travel to Highland Heights, Kentucky this weekend to take on Northern Kentucky in a three-game set. Game one is scheduled for Friday, March 7th at 2 p.m.
