Panthers Lose Lead Late in Series Finale at SELU
Nommensen, Kreke & Lindquist all go deep, Hoekstra retires 11 straight
Brett Nommensen registered a pair of extra-base hits in the loss.
2/24/2008 3:54:08 PM
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Series Stats
HAMMOND, La. – Three different Panthers homered and
Mike Hoekstra retired the final 11 batters he faced, but Southeastern Louisiana scored four times in the eighth inning to steal an 8-5 victory against Eastern Illinois baseball Sunday afternoon in the finale of a three-game, season-opening series at Alumni Field.
The Lions completed the sweep with Sunday’s comeback victory.
Lindquist made a highlight-reel diving catch in the bottom of the fourth and then led off the top of the next inning with an opposite-field homer to right. The longball put EIU on top 5-4, a lead the Panthers would hold until the eighth.
Beginning with Lindquist’s diving catch, Hoekstra retired 11 straight Lion hitters until giving way to the EIU bullpen in the seventh. The freshman right-hander surrendered four runs on four hits while striking out five over his six innings pitched in his collegiate debut.
A lead-off single ignited the SELU rally in the eighth. After a sacrifice bunt, another base hit allowed the lions to tie the game. Then with a runner on a second base, Kreke tried to cut down the lead runner at third base on a ground ball to the left side of the infield. Both runners were safe and the man on third eventually scored what proved to be the game-winning run on a wild pitch.
Tristan Facer and Nommensen both collected a pair of hits, as EIU enjoyed an advantage in the hits column (8-7 on this day) for the second time in the series. Nommensen chased SELU starter Adam Jones with a double in the second inning but was called out on a controversial call at home to end the inning following an
Alex Gee single.
“We played better in every game this weekend and got good starting pitching; Hoekstra was excellent today,” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “But they took advantage of some momentum-building opportunities in different innings. They had the big eighth inning. We’ve got to get the closer role settled. But once we get that figured out we should be fine.
“Lindquist had a big game and hit the ball hard three times today. Nommy hit the ball well, too. We’re still not going to have an Erik Huber, but we could have six or seven guys hit a handful of homers. I thought we made some great strides as a team. From Friday through today, we got a lot figured out and took some big steps today. Plus, it was 70s and sunny all weekend."
The Panthers return to the state of Louisiana next weekend for a three-game series at Northwestern State. Friday’s series opener is slated for 6:30 p.m.
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Ben Turner, Asst. SID