Eastern lost a back-and-forth game against Morehead State University 7-6 on Friday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.
Morehead State led 6-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, when Eastern’s senior catcher Grant Lashure hit his second home run of the season to cut the game to a two-run deficit.
In the home half of the eight inning, with runners on first and third base, Panther senior outfielder Trenton Pallas drove in the game tying run on a two RBI double.
After Panther senior right-handed pitcher Jonathon Hanscom gave up a one out walk and a stolen base, a throwing error by Lashure allowed the go-ahead run to get to third. That run ended up scoring on a wild pitch.
This is the fifth straight loss by Eastern, with all of the final scores resulting in a gap of two runs or less.
Eastern’s head baseball coach and manager Jason Anderson reflected on another close game that his team ended up on the losing end of.
“We just can’t take wins from anybody, it’s just been that way all year,” Anderson said. “We’re pretty good when there’s no pressure on us and then when it’s close, we just find a way to give it away.”
Eastern’s senior Lucas Loos was moved back to right field after spending much of the time the last month at shortstop.
The reigning Ohio Valley Conference player of the week stayed hot with the bat, hitting a solo home run in the first inning. Loos leads the team in hits with 69, home runs with 19, and RBIs with 19.
“That guy is unbelievable, I have never seen anything like it,” Anderson said. “I wish some other guys would jump up and follow him.”
Eastern’s junior right-handed pitcher Christian Carew started and went 4.1 innings, giving up seven hits and six earned runs. Hanscom got the loss, making his record 1-3.
The game took two hours and 40 minutes to complete.
Game two of the series will start at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Coaches Stadium. Junior right-handed pitcher Casey Perrenoud will get the start on the mound for Eastern.
Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.
