Baseball Splits at EIU; Anderson ties strikeout record

BOX SCORES (GAME 1 | GAME 2) | AUDIO ARCHIVE (GAME 1 | GAME 2)

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Senior pitcher Matt Anderson tied the Morehead State single-season record for strikeouts, and the Eagle offense erupted for 22 hits in a 23-7 victory in the opening game of a doubleheader at Eastern Illinois' Coaches Stadium Friday. The momentum didn't carry over for game two, however, as MSU fell 5-1.

The Eagles are now 27-21 overall and 13-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference. EIU sits at 8-37 overall and 3-20 in the conference.

Anderson tied Sean Hogan's mark of 108 Ks in a year, set back in 1991, when he fanned seven in the first six frames of game one. He allowed just one run to improve to 7-2. He is one of just two Division I pitchers (the other being Southeast Missouri's Joey Lucchesi) with more than 100 punchouts this season.

Junior third baseman Alex Stephens went 4-for-6 in the opener and also added two hits in the nightcap, while freshman shortstop Reid Leonard and junior rightfielder Will Schanider connected on three hits each in the first game. MSU held a 6-1 advantage after six innings but bombarded EIU's bullpen to the tune of 17 runs in the final three innings. Included in that were five pinch-hit hits in the ninth inning, highlighted by a three-run homer by junior outfielder Michael Patrick and a two-run smash by freshman Trevor Snyder. Freshman catcher Hunter Fain also went deep, nailing a two-run home run in the eighth.

Twelve different players recorded at least one RBI in the opening game of the day.

"I almost wish we would have just won 7-1 in the first game," said head coach Mike McGuire. "That's baseball though, we used up all our runs in one game, and it's tough when you have to play back-to-back games. The thing I was most disappointed in was that we punched out nine times in game two and really didn't compete at the plate. Give their pitcher (Matt Wivinis) credit though, he has a good arm."

In the second contest, Wivinis only surrendered five hits and one run in 6.2 innings before lefthander Andy Fisher came in and shut down MSU for the final seven outs for his third save.

Senior first baseman Jesus Carrera provided MSU's lone run with an RBI single through the right side in the seventh.

Junior righthander Luke Humphreys (4-4) was charged with four earned runs in 6.1 innings and tallied five strikeouts. Leonard and Stephens combined for four of the Eagles' six hits.

Game three is set for 2 p.m. ET Saturday.