CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (30-17, 10-10 OVC) loses a tough game in the 10th inning after Belmont (33-17, 14-5 OVC) walks it off with a home run for a final score of 3-2. John Behrends for the Bruins hits a shot to right center field to end the Panthers' night. EIU's starting pitcher
Cameron Doherty threw a strong game going for 6.2 innings allowing only five hits, two runs, three walks, and struck out six.
Sean Lynch Jr. went 2-3 at the plate in the game for his first multi-hit game of the season.
Ryan Ignoffo picked up his 14th home run of the season while
Grant Lashure picked up the other RBI.
QUICK STATS
Cameron Doherty: ND, 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K
Hayden Birdsong: L (4-3), 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, K
Ryan Ignoffo: 1-4, HR, RBI, R
Grant Lashure: 1-4, RBI
Sean Lynch Jr.: 2-3
Panthers and Bruins battled on the mound with both starting pitchers. Bruins' starting pitcher Joshua South threw eight innings in the ball game while allowing five hits, two runs, and struck out 11 Panthers. South had five innings with multiple strikeouts.
EIU struck first for the second day in a row in the second inning.
Nathan Aide lead off the inning with a single to short stop, and then proceeded to steal second. After a balk by South, Lashure was able to bring home Aide with an RBI single.
The Panthers would add their final run on the board in the third inning with Ignoffo's solo blast to left field. It was the only extra base hit for the Panthers on the day.
Doherty was able to throw four scoreless innings before giving up a run in the fifth inning. Belmont was able to get two runners on base to lead off the inning. Grayson Taylor was able to capitalize on that with an RBI single through the right side to bring the score to 2-1.
South would strike out two in the sixth and Doherty would strike out one in the bottom of the inning for a scoreless sixth. Belmont would tie the game in the seventh after Carson Shacklett hit a soft double into shallow center field to bring home Taylor from second.
Relief pitcher
Hayden Birdsong was able to keep the Bruins off the board in the eighth and ninth innings to help EIU force extra innings. Closer Kyle Brennan for Belmont threw the final two innings for the Bruins. Brennan picked up the win for his efforts after not allowing a run and striking out three.Â
John Behrends ended the game for the Panthers after his solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning with two outs. Ignoffo threw out a runner after a fly ball to get two outs in the inning, and also made a great effort to catch the home run in right field.
EIU would score two runs on five hits with no errors. Belmont scored three runs on seven hits with one error. Game three will be streamed on ESPN+ tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
