Eastern split a doubleheader against the University of Southern Indiana on Thursday at Coaches Stadium, winning game one 4-2 and losing game two 8-1.  

Junior right-hander Casey Perrenoud went five innings as the game one starter. He had sharp lateral movement on his slider, and that mixed with the arm side run of his sinker made him very hard to hit. He fanned six batters before turning the ball over to senior right-handed pitcher Jonathon Hanscom, who got the remaining 12 outs to lock down his first win of the year.

He was working through some tough situations, maneuvering his way around multiple runners on base while not allowing a run. Perrenoud and Hanscom combined to strand 16 Southern Indiana baserunners. 

The first three hitters in the Eastern lineup all hit solo home runs in the first game. Redshirt junior outfielder Dylan Drumke’s team-leading 13th home run of the season tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Senior shortstop Lucas Loos gave the Panthers the lead with his home run in the sixth, with senior first baseman Cole Gober’s blast in the eighth giving Eastern an insurance run.  

Things didn’t go as well for the Panthers in game two, as Southern Indiana jumped on freshman right-handed starting pitcher Bryce Riggs.

They tagged him for seven earned runs in 4.1 innings, with five of those coming in the first. It got heated in the bottom of the third inning when sophomore third baseman Mike O’Connor was hit in the head for the second time in as many games, causing the umpires to issue warnings to both benches.

The Panthers were only able to muster one run in this one thanks to another solo shot by Loos. Riggs picked up his second loss of the season. 

Manager Jason Anderson seemed content with splitting the two games. 

“It was a baseball day,” Anderson said. “It’s hard to sweep somebody in a doubleheader.” 

Eastern’s record is now 14-25 and 8-9 in Ohio Valley Conference play. They’re currently in sixth place in the conference standings. 

The series-deciding third game, which was scheduled to be a home game on Friday, has now been changed to Saturday at Southern Indiana. The start time for that game is set for 3 p.m. and senior right-hander Colton Coca is expected to start for the Panthers. 

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