Eastern lost their first game of Ohio Valley Conference play on Friday, dropping game one of a three game series against the Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) Redhawks 20-13 Friday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.
The Redhawks jumped out to a 7-0 lead after the first two innings before Eastern’s senior right handed pitcher Colton Coca was able to settle down and throw two scoreless innings before leaving in the fifth inning.
Coca gave up 11 earned runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings.
SEMO had three separate 10-run leads, and for two innings straight, the Redhawks matched the Panthers run for run to preserve their cushion.
Eastern scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and SEMO countered with two runs in the top of the ninth inning.
Redshirt junior outfielder Dylan Drumke hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning, and senior utility player Cole Gober, who played first base today, hit the very next pitch over the fence in right field.
Drumke and Gober would duplicate that in the sixth inning with the exact same sequence; a two run home run and a solo shot on the very next pitch.
Senior outfielder Lucas Loos finished the day four for five hits with three doubles and a home run. The top three hitters for the Panthers in Drumke, Gober and Loos combined to go eight for 16, scoring seven runs and driving in eight runs.
“The first three guys in our lineup have been outstanding,” Panther’s head coach Jason Anderson said. “Those are three men trying to carry us to some victories.”
Eastern struggled to throw strikes throughout the game, as Panther pitchers walked 13 hitters today as the team allowed 37 walks in their last three games.
“It’s the same thing over and over,” Anderson said. “We need to see some improvement and we’re just not seeing it. We’re gonna need to score a lot of runs or throw some more strikes, it’s one or the other.”
Eastern falls to 5-14 on the season, and the team will try to even the series against SEMO on Saturday at Coaches Stadium.
Freshman right handed pitcher and reigning Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the week Bryce Riggs will start on the mound for the Panthers.
The start time for that game has been pushed back an hour from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Coaches Stadium.
Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.
