Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: Sports

Eastern sophomore shortstop Cam Strang fires the ball across the infield during the team's 11-1 win against Illinois College Thursday at Coaches Stadium. The Panthers play Southern Illinois Edwardsville this weekend in a three-game series at Coaches Stadium. (Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

The Eastern baseball team rolled to an 11-1 victory Thursday afternoon at Coaches Stadium in a game that saw several starters resting and a handful of reserves in action.

The entire Eastern infield rested, with seniors Zach Skidmore, Jordan Kreke and Jordan Tokarz, and junior Jake Samuels all getting the day off. But the reserves taking their place had little problem with the Division-III Blueboys (8-13).

Junior first baseman Alex Gee, who platoons with Samuels, scored four runs and hit his fourth home run of the year, junior left fielder Chris Ulrey went 2-for-3, and the combination of sophomore right-hander Zach Carney and senior right-hander Alex Guttosch combined for eight innings of eight hit, one run ball for the Panthers (29-9).

Carney picked up his first career win.

"We play a lot of games in three days, so obviously I needed to get a lot of people in who you never know when I'm going to need to use them," Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz said. "Carney threw the ball well. He threw strikes."

The game ended in the bottom of the eighth inning when the Panthers took a 10-run lead.

Schmitz said the teams had agreed on a "10-run rule" before the game, where the game would end if there was a 10-run lead or larger in the seventh inning or later.

Schmitz said it nice to get many reserves in as his team recovers from a few injuries and prepares for their weekend non-conference series against Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

The Panthers take a step out of Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend when they face the Cougars at 1 p.m. Saturday in a doubleheader and at 1 p.m. Sunday for the series finale. All three games are at Coaches Stadium.

"The timing of the no-OVC weekend is good, and the timing of the injuries is good," Schmitz said. "We just have to get our edge back."

The Cougars, who are reclassifying to become an OVC school, but games against league teams are not counted toward their OVC record, are 9-25 this season, and showcase a 5-16 record on the road.

The Panthers will throw their usual weekend starters against SIUE, with sophomore right-handers Josh Mueller and Mike Recchia getting the starts Saturday, and junior left-hander Tyler Kehrer pitching Sunday.


Upcoming games

• Saturday vs. Southern Illinois Edwardsville (DH), 1 p.m., Coaches Stadium

• Sunday vs. Southern Illinois Edwardsville, 1 p.m., Coaches Stadium


Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or at cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.

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