By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Tennessee Tech baseball team found itself on the wrong end of a 6-1 decision to wrap up its Ohio Valley Conference series at Eastern Illinois on Friday, as the Golden Eagles fell to the Panthers 6-1 at Coaches Stadium in Charleston, Ill.
EIU (19-17, 9-5) finished off a three-game sweep of the purple and gold (24-16, 9-6), which had entered the weekend series in sole possession of first place in the league standings. The Cookeville crew struggled to get the offense going in the finale, accruing just six hits and managing only one run despite drawing eight walks throughout the day.
The Panthers struck first in the affair, scoring three times in the bottom of the third behind a two-run double and an RBI single, both with two outs in the frame. Eastern Illinois made it a 4-0 lead in the fourth with another RBI single, one of the team's nine hits on the day.
Another two runs in the fifth on a base knock to left-center field turned it into a 6-0 ballgame before the purple and gold got onto the scoreboard. In the top of the sixth, Tech rallied with two outs, starting with a four-pitch walk drawn by left fielder Jackson Green.
Center fielder Nicho Jordan followed it up with a base hit up the middle, and Jorsixt Jimenez fought tooth-and-nail to load the bags, working an eight-pitch walk. Second baseman Eddie Garza drove in the team's lone run of the ball game, staying patient and picking up an RBI, bases-loaded walk on five offerings.
Tech threatened one more time in the seventh, loading the bases before the Panthers escaped unscathed.
Junior righty Lucas Vega tossed 3.0 innings of shutout ball out of the bullpen for the purple and gold, completing the sixth, seventh, and eighth frames and facing the minimum with one strikeout.
The Golden Eagles return to Cookeville for a long stretch at Quillen Field and Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex, featuring five home games in a six-day span. The home stand opens on Tuesday with a 6:00 p.m. CT tilt against USC Upstate and continues with another tilt with the Spartans at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Admission to all Tech home baseball games is free of charge.
File photo by Betty Myers
