NORMAL, Ill. –
Tristan Facer’s first home run as a Panther, a two-run shot in the 11th inning, lifted Eastern Illinois baseball to a 7-5 victory at Illinois State Wednesday afternoon.
Jordan Tokarz went 4-for-6 at the top of the lineup and sent the game to extra innings with a two-out single in the eighth. With the bases loaded and EIU (9-10) trailing 5-3, he hit a grounder into the hole between third and shortstop for what was ruled a base hit. The tying run scored when the ISU shortstop failed to prevent the ball from caroming into left field.
Tokarz then led off the 11th with a single and scored on Facer’s long ball to left.
Richie Derbak (1-1) pitched four innings of one-hit relief to earn his first victory of the season. He struck out four, including the final batter of the game. The sophomore caught the first seven innings of the contest.
“A lot of things went wrong; walks to leadoff innings, we had runners on second and third early on and didn’t cash in. But it has been our theme all year, ‘hang in there,’” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “Very few games are easy. It was great to get back in the game against one of their weekend arms (Dan Sorce). So the two runs in the eighth were probably the most important of the game. It’s a little luxury to have two closers. Scott [Foley] is still our guy, but it’s nice to have Richie in the mix, too. It was a good win and a lot of guys contributed.”
Facer didn’t enter the game until the bottom of the ninth inning, replacing Gee at first base. Facer’s 11th-inning at-bat was his first of the game. Coincidentally, Schmitz said he put Facer in for an upgrade defensively with extra innings looming.
Eastern starter
Mike Recchia worked five innings of one-run ball in his first collegiate start. The Panthers led 3-1 when he gave way to the bullpen. But after scoring a single run in the sixth, Illinois State (9-10) took the lead with a three-run seventh inning. A two-out, two-run double from Ronnie Calvird was the big hit of the rally.
Walks to Derbak,
Zach Skidmore and Strang set the stage for Tokarz’s game-tying at-bat.
Jordan Kreke scored easily from third and Skidmore accounted for the tying tally during the play.
The Panthers scored a single run in the first, third and fourth innings. Gee plated Nommensen with a two-out single in the first inning. Nommensen doubled home Tokarz in the third. And a sacrifice fly in the fourth from Strang scored
Neil Wright.
Bart Thyer replaced Derbak behind the plate and eliminated one of the few baserunners his battery mate allowed to reach. With one out in the 10th, Thyer picked off ISU’s Kyle Cherney at first base after he had drawn a walk moments earlier.
The Panthers also turned a pair of 4-6-3 double plays early in the game.
Eastern, winners of six of its last seven, returns to action Saturday for an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader at Tennessee Tech. The first pitch is slated for noon.
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Ben Turner, Asst. SID
