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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Sophomore pitcher Matt Borens posted his first career complete game on Sunday afternoon, striking out seven batters as the Panther baseball team defeated Southeast Missouri, 13-3, at Coaches Stadium. EIU captured the series with the Redhawks, 2-1.
 
Borens (2-4) only allowed seven hits and three runs (one earned) on the day while only issuing one walk. The Monee, Ill., native faced 36 batters on the day and recorded 130 pitches.
 
“Matt was unbelievable today,” said Eastern Illinois head coach Jim Schmitz. “His last four outings have been outstanding and he took the ball again today on the mound and performed well.”
 
Heading into the bottom of the second inning, The Panthers (14-22, 5-12 OVC) scored eight runs on seven hits and one SEMO error to take an 8-0 advantage. The Redhawks (20-21, 12-8 OVC) got within seven (8-1) in the sixth inning on a Jason Meade sacrifice fly before Caleb Howell hit an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the frame to regain the Panthers eight-run lead (9-1).
 
EIU added four more runs in the eighth inning to make the score 13-1. Dane Sauer hit an RBI single for the first run of the inning before Brant Valach hit a two-RBI double to left field for the next two runs. Cameron Berra hit a RBI single up the middle to round out the scoring.
 
SEMO added two runs in the top of the ninth inning, scoring two runs on three hits and two Panther errors to get within 10 (13-3) before Borens struck out John Logan Zink to end the comeback effort.
 
EIU had eight more hits (15-7) than SEMO and left one more runner on base (7-6). The Redhawks committed one more error (3-2) than the Panthers in the contest.
 
Valach paced the Panther offense, going 4-for-5 with four RBI, three doubles and two runs. Sauer and Schweigert both finished the day going 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI while Howell went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs.
 
“Brant has changed us his batting stance recently and he was able to get some big hits for us,” added Schmitz. “We inserted Tyler Schweigert into the starting lineup this afternoon and he played well.”
 
Trevor Kill (0-2) took the loss for SEMO, surrendering six hits and seven runs (four earned) in 1.1 innings of work. Derek Gibson led the team at the plate as he went 2-for-4.