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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Morehead State scored four early runs, before Eastern Illinois fought back to tie the game in the fifth and took the lead with a four-run seventh to win 9-5 Sunday in the rubber match of the Ohio Valley Conference Series.
MSU's J.D. Ashbrook lead off the game with a home run and followed that up with a towering shot with two out in the second.The blasts were the 13th and 14th home runs of the season for senior lead-off man. Michael Fear singled home Daniel Pugh, who had doubled to deep right center for the second run in the first. Luke Bainer also homered in the second, his fourth jack of the season.
The pitching team of Josh Mueller and Brent McNeil subdued the Eagle bats for five consecutive innings allowing the Panthers to claw back into the game. EIU scored single runs in the third and the fourth, and tied the contest in the fifth on Gerik Wallsten’s second home run of the game.
A key play in the bottom of the seventh opened up the door for the Panthers' four-run inning. Andrew Deeds made an excellent play, charging, fielding and delivering an off-balance throw to first baseman Michael Fear on a Curt Restko bunt. The throw appeared to be in time, but was close enough for Restko to be ruled safe.
That opened flood gates for EIU as a routine double play in the next at-bat was negated by a well-timed hit-and-run as the grounder went right where shortstop Drew Lee had been standing before he moved to cover second. After reliever Matthew Robertson induced a fly out from Ben Thoma, Alex Gee sent a Robertson offering deep over the left center wall to give the Panthers their first lead of the contest. Another run scored on a Lee error to make it 8-4 in favor of EIU.
Deeds smacked his seventh home run of the season in the eighth, a solo shot that pulled the Eagles to within three at 8-5, but EIU added an insurance run with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth.
Ashbrook led the way for the Eagles with his pair of home runs, while Pugh also had a pair of hits. Robertson was the hard-luck loser pitching effectively, save the game-changing three-run home run in the eighth inning.
The loss drops MSU’s record to 2-4 in OVC play and 18-17 overall. The Eagles will face local rival Marshall on Tuesday, the first off three midweek games against the Thundering Herd this season, before hosting Eastern Kentucky next weekend. First pitch on Tuesday is at 3:00 p.m.
