Eastern fought the elements to get a rain-shortened 14-9 win over the Bradley Braves on Tuesday at Coaches Stadium. 

The game went back and forth until the bottom of the third inning when the Panthers put up seven runs and took control. Redshirt sophomore two-way player Joey Hagen, who started zero for eight this season, ended up going three for four with two doubles and two runs batted in in this game.

Junior outfielder Quade Peters also had two RBIs and redshirt junior outfielder Dylan Drumke extended his team lead in RBIs to 35 with three of them in this game.

The wind was howling, blowing in at over 30 miles per hour. While the wind made pop-ups and fly balls tricky plays for both defenses, it didn’t stop junior second baseman Danny Infante from hitting his second home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth.  

Eastern played some great team baseball, moving runners over on the bases and taking advantage of run-scoring opportunities, which left manager Jason Anderson pleased.  

“We moved some guys along, we bunted guys over, we stole some bases, and we took advantage when they left the door open,” Anderson said. “That part of the game was really good on the offensive side.” 

The game was suspended with two outs in the top of the fifth due to lightning within a 10-mile radius of the stadium. After 55 minutes, play resumed. The game was called with one out in the top of the ninth after another system had presented itself. As soon as the players had all cleared off the field, the heavy rain started.  

Freshman right-handed pitcher Slater Wilcox was the first arm out of the bullpen, taking over for senior right-handed pitcher Mitch Alba after he went 2.1 innings. Wilcox went 1.2 innings and picked up win number two in his collegiate career. After junior right-handed pitcher Lukas Touma pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth innings, freshman right-hander Anthony Solis came on in the seventh. He would’ve picked up a save had the game lasted two more outs.  

Eastern is tentatively scheduled to play Saint Xavier University at home on Wednesday, however, with the rain and the fact that the team couldn’t get the tarp on the field in time, it’s up in the air whether or not the game will go ahead as scheduled. If it does happen, it’ll be a 3 p.m. start at Coaches Stadium.  

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.