Eastern scored 10 runs in the fourth-through-sixth innings to wrap up a three-game sweep with a 13-2 win against Tennessee-Martin on Sunday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.

The Panthers (14-13, 6-3 Ohio Valley Conference) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when sophomore catcher Richie Derbak pulled a 2-2 pitch over the right field wall for the first home run of his career.

But UT-Martin (3-22, 0-7) tied the game in the next inning on a two-out home run to deep right field by senior center fielder Kyle Dudley off Eastern starting pitcher Tyler Kehrer.

Kehrer, a sophomore from New Baden, settled down and gave up one more run (unearned) when UT-Martin freshman third baseman Drew Mason scored on a throwing error by Eastern third baseman Jordan Kreke.

Kreke made a diving grab on a ball hit by Skyhawks’ freshman shortstop Cody Terry but rushed his throw to senior first baseman Tristan Facer, who could not scoop the ball out of the dirt.

Kehrer (1-4) earned his first win of the season in his eighth appearance this season. He gave up seven hits in seven innings and struck out seven batters.

“We really got good pitching,” said Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz. “(Kehrer) is getting better and better and better. He’s not relying on his fastball. He threw his off-speed (pitches) for strikes.”

Freshman shortstop Cameron Strang said Kehrer worked past a rough first few innings when he gave up three hits and one run in the first few innings and threw several pitches in long counts.

“He’s getting a lot of confidence out there, and that’s going to help us in the next series,” Strang said. “He’s not walking anybody.”

Kehrer had one walk against the Skyhawks but has walked 17 batters in his other seven appearances.

Schmitz said Eastern’s hitters could use the Panthers’ pitching strength as a boost of confidence at the plate.

Eastern used that confidence in the bottom of the fourth inning when it scored four runs on four hits to take a 5-1 lead it would not relinquish.

Junior second baseman Jordan Tokarz led off the bottom of the fourth with a hopping single up the middle. Junior designated hitter Zach Skidmore drew a walk on four straight pitches to advance Tokarz to second.

Kreke then laid down a 0-1 bunt down the third base line to load the bases. Derbak followed Kreke’s bunt base hit with a two-run double to right field to score Tokarz and Skidmore.

Facer finished the rally with a single through the left side of the infield to score Kreke and Derbak.

“We start getting hits, and then we get over the hump when hits become RBIs,” Schmitz said. “Hitting doesn’t go from bad to really good quickly. We had a couple of midweek games, and it’s going better. It really is a momentum thing.”

Eastern centerfielder Bret Nommensen said Sunday’s win was important because the Panthers were able to not only get hits but also score runs, which was different than Eastern’s first game against UT-Martin. The Panthers scored just six runs on 13 hits in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

“That was one of the big things after the first game where we had all those hits and we didn’t get many runs,” Nommensen said. “I told the guys it would come. We just got the momentum throughout the whole game, where we just kept adding on more runs.”

The Panthers scored three runs in the fifth and sixth innings and added two more in the seventh to solidify their double-digit victory.

“Today was one of those days where everything clicked,” Nommensen said. “We were just driving the ball today. Today, the bottom of the lineup did as good as the top of the lineup.”

Scott Richey can be reached at 581-7944 or at srrichey@eiu.edu.

Freshman shortstop, Cameron Strang, rips the ball through the infield for two RBI’s to help the Panthers beat the Tennessee Martin Skyhawks at Coaches Stadium on Saturday afternoon. (John Bailey/The Daily Eastern News)

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