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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Winners of nine of its last 10 games, Eastern Illinois baseball hosts Tennessee Tech this weekend for the first Ohio Valley Conference series at Coaches Stadium this season.
Saturday's doubleheader is slated for a noon first pitch, while the series finale Sunday is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m. However, with the weekend forecast calling for a 50 percent chance of rain Saturday, a noon doubleheader Sunday – featuring a pair of seven-inning games – is a possibility.
While EIU (15-5, 3-0 OVC) finally opened its home schedule Wednesday, Tennessee Tech (11-8, 0-3 OVC) has played at home in four of the first five weekends of the season.
The opening weekend of OVC play a week ago saw the road teams win all four series. While the Panthers were closing out a 7-1 spring break trip with a sweep of Morehead State, the Golden Eagles were swept by Southeast Missouri in Cookeville.
The home team has won the EIU-TTU series each of the last four seasons. Eastern won two-of-three in Charleston in 2005 and 2007. Tech took two-of-three in 2006 and swept the Panthers in Cookeville the final weekend of March last year. Eastern did get the last laugh in the OVC Tournament, defeating the Golden Eagles in the opening round in the first of its four wins in four days.
Last season's series in Cookeville was remarkably low scoring, with TTU winning both games two games and three 1-0. It marked the only time in EIU's OVC era (1997-present) that the team had played in consecutive 1-0 games.
Eastern's projected game one starter,
Josh Mueller, pitched extremely well against Tech last year. He struck out a career-high 10 over seven innings in Cookeville. The lone run he was charged with scored after he gave way to the bullpen. Mueller later set the stage for the OVC Tournament championship run with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball against TTU in Paducah.
Michael Alcorn, Tech's projected game two starter this weekend, out-dueled Mueller in Cookeville. The right-hander also struck out 10 in an eight-inning complete game. He retired the final 22 EIU batters of the game. But the Panthers got to him in the OVC Tournament meeting, scoring four times in four-plus innings.
Tech's top utility player, sophomore A.J. Kirby-Jones, is expected to start the series opener on the mound this weekend. At the plate, he leads the team with eight home runs and 31 RBIs.
Eastern will stick with its regular weekend rotation of Mueller,
Tyler Kehrer and
Mike Recchia. Kehrer limited Tech to just one run, which was unearned, over 5 1/3 innings in Cookeville last season. At home, meanwhile, the left-hander compiled a 2.28 ERA and .241 batting average against over 23 2/3 innings in 2008.
But early on this season it has been Recchia that has emerged as the most dominant member of the pitching staff. The sophomore has gone at least six innings – giving up no more than four hits and one run – in each of his first four weekend starts, posting wins against Southeastern Louisiana, Milwaukee, Oklahoma and Morehead State in the process. Recchia enters the weekend leading the league in ERA (1.12) and batting average against (.153).
Eastern has been on an offensive tear while posting a 12-3 record in March, compiling a .387 team batting average and hitting 24 home runs. The Panthers lead the OVC in hitting and ranked seventh nationally entering the week.
Seniors
Brett Nommensen (14 games) and
Jordan Kreke (10) are both riding double-figure hitting streaks. Nommensen has also hit safely in 11 straight OVC games dating back to last season. He entered the week ranked among the Top 10 nationally in batting average, on-base and slugging percentage.
Eastern is currently in the midst of a stretch in which it is slated to play nine of 10 games at home. After Tuesday's midweek game at Saint Louis, the Panthers begin a five-game homestand Wednesday against Chicago State.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game 1: EIU's
Josh Mueller (So, RHP) vs. Tech's A.J. Kirby-Jones (So, LHP)
