Senior Cameron Berra hit a grand slam to cap off an 11-run seventh inning for the Eastern baseball team, who beat IPFW 15-8 Sunday in Coaches Stadium.

The Panthers won the weekend series, after winning the opener 10-5, Friday. Eastern improved to 6-18, while IPFW dropped to 5-15.

After falling behind 7-1, following a six-run third inning for IPFW, the Panthers stormed back to score 14 unanswered runs.

Berra walked up to right side of the batter’s box, with the bases loaded and Eastern leading 11-7.

On the second pitch of the at bat, Berra barreled up a pitch from Kevin Kimball over the left-field fence, giving Eastern a 15-7 lead.

“Coach said if he throws it inside you’re going to hit a double or home run,” Berra said. “It was kind of a you blank out type of deal. You see that pitch in and you don’t really know what happens. I put a good swing on it and I let my hands work and it went out.”

It was Berra’s first home run of the season and with the four RBIs, upped his total to 12.

The comeback effort in the seventh inning started with Montana Timmons lining a double to right-center field that drove in Jason Scholl and Demetre Taylor. Still down by one, Tyler Schweigert reached on a fielding error by Kristian Gayday, which allowed Timmons to score and tie the game.

Following a sacrifice bunt by Jacob Reese, Dane Sauer delivered the go-ahead run with a batted ball that traveled no more than 20 feet.

Eastern coach Jim Schmitz decided to call a bunt, with Sauer at the plate.

“We did the suicide, which I haven’t done much early in the season,” Schmitz said. “A run is a run and it could lead to bigger runs.”

As Sauer squared his bat and bunted, IPFW catcher Caleb Fenimore rushed out of his catcher’s stance and chased after the ball, which had only rolled about 20 feet up the first-base line.

Sauer said he did one thing wrong on the play.

“I was looking at the ball on the line, which I probably shouldn’t have been doing, but I saw it stay fair and I looked up and I had a chance to get a hit because there was no one at first,” Sauer said. I was surprised I got a hit out of it.”

The onslaught followed as the Panthers scored seven more runs to close out the seventh inning, taking a 15-7 lead.

IPFW scored a run in the eighth, but that’s the final run it would manage.

Ben Kennedy received the win for Eastern, pitching two innings, giving up IPFW’s run in the eighth inning.

Senior Joe Greenfield started his first game of the season and began the afternoon allowing a run in the first inning off of a wild pitch.

In the third inning, the senior righty ran into some difficulties.

Greenfield intentionally walked Gayday to load the bases for IPFW in the top of the third inning.

Trailing 2-1, the Panthers walked Gayday, who entered the series-finale at Coaches Stadium hitting .385 with eight home runs and 13 RBIs, to face Kevin Wirth with two outs.

Greenfield induced a groundball off the bat of the right-handed hitter. Eastern shortstop Dane Sauer dove to his left, finding the ball in his glove and then flipped it over to Mitch Gasbarro at second base. Unfortunately Gasbarro could not hold on to the ball and all runners were safe, while two others scored. The third-inning rally continued, as three more runs scored in the inning, giving IPFW a 7-1 lead.

Despite the six-run inning, Greenfield ended his outing with three shutout innings.

“Joe pitched well the last three innings – he wasn’t sharp early, but he found his groove,” Schmitz said.

The Panthers responded IPFW’s third inning, with a solo home run by Gasbarro to leadoff the Eastern half of the third inning. Then with the bases loaded and no one out in the fourth, junior Caleb Howell hit a single to right-center field, driving in a run.

Eastern could only muster one more run after Zach Mishler came in to pitch, replacing Steve Danielak.

Gasbarro grounded into a 4-6-3 double play that resulted in a run for Eastern, cutting the deficit to 7-4.

Eastern is scheduled to play Saint Louis at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Coaches Stadium, but cold temperatures could prompt a cancelation.

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or asoto2@eiu.edu.