Gardewine First in Nation in ERA, Thompson Fifth; Widdersheim Picks Up Win For EIU

National Junior College Division 1 stats this week has Kaskaskia pitcher Nick Gardewine (Effingham High School) No. 1 with a .40 era.

Gardewine has thrown 45 innings giving up four runs only two have been earned. He has struck out 50 batters given up 23 hits and walked 11. He has a string of 23 straight scoreless innings. He stands at 4-1 on the season with three shutouts and a no-hitter.

John A Logan pitcher Derek Thompson (Teutopolis High School) is in sixth place with a .67 era. Thompson has pitched in 54 innings giving up seven runs four earned. He has struck out 66 batters which puts him in fifth place. He's given up 22 hits and walked 18 batters. Thompson is 6-1 on the season.

Eastern Illinois 20, Illinois State 2

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Redshirt-freshman Demetre Taylor went 3-for-5 with five RBI and three runs to lead the Panther baseball team to a 20-2 defeat of Illinois State on Wednesday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.

EIU improved to 7-18 on the year and 3-1 against the Redbirds this season. Illinois State dropped to 12-14 overall.

The Panthers scored 11 runs through the game’s first two innings to build an early 11-0 advantage. Kyle Stanton hit a two-RBI double in the top of third inning to get the Redbirds with nine (11-2) before a Nick Priessman RBI single in the bottom of the frame made the score 12-2.

EIU added eight runs in the fifth inning on eight hits to make the score 20-2. All told, the Panthers had five doubles and two home runs on the day.

EIU posted three more hits (17-14) than ISU and left five fewer runners on base (11-6). The Redbirds had one error in the contest while EIU did not have any miscues.

Five Panthers had two or more hits in the game. Brant Valach went 3-for-6 with three runs and three RBI while Dane Sauer went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run. Priessman finished the day going 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run. Jason Scholl hit his first career home run in the second inning, a three-run shot over the right-field fence.

“Dane Sauer did a great job really attacking the ball today,” said Eastern Illinois head coach Jim Schmitz. “Mitch (Gasbarro) made some great plays on defense at second base. I was also impressed with how many hits to the opposite side of the field we had today.”

Stewardson-Strasburg graduate Jaden Widdersheim (2-3) earned the win, striking out three and allowing two runs in four innings of work. Garrison Stenger, CJ Martin and Jake Johansmeier combined to pitch five scoreless innings of action with three strikeouts.

Jack Landwehr (2-1) took the loss for ISU, surrendering six runs and four hits in 0.2 innings of action. Paul Dejong went 3-for-4 at plate for the Redbirds.

EIU continues its four-game homestand with an Ohio Valley Conference series with Murray State on April 5-7. Game one of the weekend series is slated for 3 p.m. on Friday.