Eastern Illinois University announced on March 23 that its baseball team will play its home opener against Northern Illinois University in a midweek game at Coaches Stadium, followed by a weekend series hosting Morehead State. The Panthers currently hold a record of 13-8 overall and are undefeated in Ohio Valley Conference play at 3-0.
These games mark the official start of the Panthers’ home schedule for the season. The matchups are significant as they offer Eastern Illinois an opportunity to continue their strong performance following last week’s perfect 5-0 run, which included wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Lindenwood.
During their recent games, Dalton Boruff pitched 5.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, while Nate Marshall added another shutout performance. Chris Worcester led offensively with eight hits and seven RBIs over five games, while Brett Stanley extended his hitting streak to 18 games, finishing last week with a .364 average.
Northern Illinois arrives in Charleston with a record of 13-7 after sweeping Miami OH and holding a winning record against OVC opponents this year. The Huskies are coached by Ryan Copeland, now in his third season. Copeland’s team is led by hitters Caden Robertson (.384 average), Wyatt Wawro (.361), and Cole Smith (.354). In the all-time series between Eastern Illinois and NIU dating back to 1960, EIU leads 31-24.
Morehead State enters the weekend series with a record of 10-14 after being swept by SIUE in conference play. Coached by Chris Rose in his sixth year, Morehead State’s offense is driven by Aubrey Kearns (.436 average) and Kyle Krupp (.368). EIU leads the all-time series against Morehead State at 44-9 since their first meeting in 1997.
Coverage for these games will be available via live stats online as well as ESPN+ broadcasts for select matchups.
