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CHARLESTON, Ill. –
Zach Carney and
Alex Guttosch teamed up for eight innings of one-run ball, and six different Panthers collected an RBI in Eastern Illinois baseball’s 11-1 victory against Illinois College Thursday afternoon at Coaches Stadium.
Ryan Lindquist led the way for EIU (29-9) with a 3-for-5 showing, doubling in his first two at-bats. His RBI single in the eighth inning brought the 10-rule, which both teams had agreed upon prior to the game, into effect.
Carney (1-0) earned his first career victory with six innings of one-run ball. He gave up six hits, all singles, and issued only one walk. Guttosch returned to the mound for the first time since the end of the 2007 season and worked two innings of scoreless relief.
Despite a strong wind blowing in from left field,
Alex Gee was able to connect for a solo home run in the third inning, his fourth long ball of the season. He scored four times on the day after also walking twice and reaching on an error.
Brad Schweigert and
Evan Zalders both made their first career starts. Schweigert started in place of
Jordan Tokarz at second base, ending Tokarz’s streak of consecutive games started at 94.
Cam Strang and Schweigert teamed up to turn a pair of 6-4-3 double plays.
“Three games in three days [this week] is a lot, so I needed to get other people in,” EIU head coach
Jim Schmitz said. “I never know how I’m going to need to use them. Zach Carney, though, he threw well, he threw strikes. Guttosch hasn’t pitched in two years, so that was fun for him and why we schedule games like this. Little things like
[Richie] Derbak’s two-run hit. Those are the things we need to kick-start the offense a little bit. Gee hitting a home run in that wind as well.”
The Panthers broke the game open with a five-run sixth inning. Zalders ignited the rally with a double down the right field line. After a walk to
Zach Borenstein, Strang advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. Derbak then delivered a two-run single to right center.
Ben Thoma and Chris Ulrey also registered run-scoring hits before the rally came to a close.
Lindquist scored EIU first run of the day on a second-inning balk after leading off with a double. Zalders then plated Ulrey with a sacrifice fly to center.
Eastern concludes its homestand this weekend with a three-game series against SIU Edwardsville. Saturday’s doubleheader is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
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Ben Turner, Asst. SID