Area Athletes Compete in EIU, SIUE Baseball Games

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Tennessee Tech used a five-run fourth inning to defeat SIUE 8-5 Saturday in the second game of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference baseball series at Simmons Baseball Complex.

The loss snapped a four-game OVC winning streak for SIUE. The Cougars dropped to 8-3 in conference play and 10-14 overall. Tennessee Tech improved to 7-4 in the OVC and 22-6 overall.

"We felt like we were in that game the whole way," SIUE Head Coach Tony Stoecklin said. "We just couldn't overcome that five spot we gave up in the fourth inning. The big inning is crusher. It's hard to overcome that in a conference game against a good team."

Effingham graduate Chase Green had a double and scored a run for SIUE.

Tennessee Tech earned a come-from-behind win Sunday to take the final game of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference baseball series, winning 10-6 over SIUE at Simmons Baseball Complex. The Golden Eagles won two of three in the weekend series.

The Cougars dropped to 8-4 in OVC play and 10-15 overall. Tennessee Tech improved to 8-4 in league play and 23-6 overall.

"I feel like TTU came in bullied us today. I think they pushed us around," SIUE Head Coach Tony Stoecklin said. "They played like a championship team. We're still trying to figure that out and what it means to play like a championship team."

The Golden Eagles got up 1-0 when the Cougars scored three times in the fourth inning to take a 5-2 lead. Devin Caldwell led off the inning with a home run. Two batters later Alec Saikal hit his first home run in a Cougar uniform to make it 2-0. Keaton Wright followed with a single to center and then scored on an RBI double by Jacob Stewart to give SIUE a 3-2 lead. Wright doubled to drive home two in the fifth inning to put the Cougars up 5-3.

TTU cut the Cougars' lead to 5-3 with an unearned run in the fifth inning against SIUE starter Jake Stauffenberg. P.J. Schuster relieved Stauffenberg later in the inning.

Stauffenberg allowed three runs, two earned, on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked two, struck out three, and did not figure into the decision.

Green had a single and a double and scored a run for SIUE.

EIU vs. Jacksonville State

CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Panther baseball team dropped game two of the weekend Ohio Valley Conference series with Jacksonville State, 23-15, on Saturday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.

EIU falls to 7-19 on the year and 2-6 in conference play while JSU improves to 16-10 overall and 8-3 in OVC play. The series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 30.

Trailing 7-2 after four innings of play, JSU scored five runs on five hits and one error in the top of the fifth inning to knot the game at seven. EIU responded by scoring four runs on five hits in the sixth inning to take an 11-7 advantage.

The Gamecocks scored 13 runs on nine hits and one error in the top of the seventh inning, making the score 20-11. EIU added one run in the bottom of the frame before JSU scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to take an 11-run lead (23-12). The Panthers scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning before Dane Sauer grounded out on the final play to end the four-hour long contest.

Jacksonville State completed the Ohio Valley Conference series sweep of the Eastern Illinois baseball team on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Panthers, 8-6, at Coaches Stadium.

The Panthers (7-20, 2-7 OVC) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, scoring four runs on three hits in the first inning. JSU’s Tyler Gamble hit a solo home run in the top of the next inning to make the score 4-1 before the Panthers pushed their lead to four (5-1) in the bottom of the frame on a Demetre Taylor RBI single.

Both teams scored a run in the fourth inning before the Gamecocks (17-10, 9-3 OVC) scored three runs in the fifth inning on two hits and one error to make the score 6-5. JSU scored two runs in the sixth inning to take its first lead of the game, 7-6.

The Gamecocks added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning to take an 8-6 advantage. Marshawn Taylor and Montana Timmons both hit singles in the bottom of the ninth to spark an EIU comeback that fell short when Frankie Perrone flied out to right field to end the contest.

“We continue to battle and get leads in a game, but continue to find ways to lose,” said Eastern Illinois head coach Jim Schmitz. “There is no way to sugarcoat it, we are playing bad baseball right now.”

Stewardson-Strasburg graduate Jaden Widdersheim pitched 0.2 innings allowing three runs, one hit and one walk.