BOX SCORE I PLAY-BY-PLAY

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Sophomore Alex Hughes’ mammoth home run in the top of the 10th inning made the difference as the Eastern Kentucky University baseball team earned a hard-fought, extra-innings win over Eastern Illinois, 9-7, on Saturday afternoon in both teams’ Ohio Valley Conference opener at Monier Field at Coaches Stadium.

After EIU (4-14, 0-1 OVC) rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie it, sophomore Matt Phipps led off the top of the 10th for EKU (7-15, 1-0 OVC) and walked, stole second and third on consecutive pitches and then scored on a throwing error by EIU catcher Jacob Reese to give the Colonels the lead. Junior Jacob Daniel then singled and, with two outs in the inning, Hughes crushed a two-run, tape-measure shot to right center that made it 9-6.

Hughes’ home run proved to be the difference-maker, as senior right-hander Chris Hord came on in the bottom of the 10th and allowed one unearned run before getting Reese to ground into a game-ending fielder’s choice. It is EKU’s first road win of the year.

Junior right-hander Matt Fyffe started on the hill for EKU and delivered a quality outing, going 5.2 innings and allowing only two runs on 10 hits. Senior right-hander Ryne Purcell (1-0) received the win, despite blowing the save opportunity in the bottom of the ninth, while Hord picked up his first save of the season.

Right-hander Mike Hoekstra, the OVC Preseason Pitcher of the Year, started for EIU and got touched up, working 7.2 innings and surrendering six runs on seven hits. Right-hander Troy Barton (1-2) got the loss for EIU, as two of the three runs scored in the top of the 10th were credited to him.

Junior Richie Rodriguez led the Colonel offense, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored, three RBI and a stolen base. Senior Ryan Faidley, meanwhile, batted 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI.

Reese, Cam Strang, T.J. McManus and Ryan Dineen all collected three hits in the game for EIU; however, the Panthers left 17 men on base while the Colonels stranded only four.

Fyffe pitched out of a jam in the in the bottom of the first, loading the bases with just one out before inducing a pop out and a ground out to evade the threat without damage. He cruised for the next four innings, but loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fifth before striking out Dineen looking to escape another jam.

Hoekstra, on the other hand, cruised for five innings, but was unable to pitch out of the first jam he encountered in the top of the sixth. The right-hander loaded the bases with one out in that inning, and then surrendered a bases-clearing triple to Rodriguez that made it 3-0. After Daniel scored Rodriguez with a sacrifice fly, Faidley crushed a home run to left to make it 5-0.

EIU, though, clawed back into the game, scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth and two more in the bottom of the seventh to pull within one, and after Faidley provided an insurance run in the top of the eighth when he laced a double down the right field to score Rodriguez, the Panthers rallied to tie it in the bottom of the ninth off EKU closer Purcell. Purcell loaded the bases with no outs in that inning, and almost worked out of the jam by getting a pop out and strike out; however, Strang stroked a two-out, two-run single into right center to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

Game two of this weekend’s series was pushed to Sunday due to the threat of inclement weather. Two seven-inning games are now scheduled to be played on Sunday beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST.