Baseball Sweeps Florida A&M With 3-0 Sunday Win

Baseball Sweeps Florida A&M With 3-0 Sunday Win | https://images.sidearmdev.com/resize?url=https%3a%2f%2fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net%2fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2feiupanthers.com%2fimages%2f2023%2f2%2f19%2fEIU_FAMU_Photo.jpg&width=942&type=jpeg

By East Central Reporter Reports

Feb 26, 2023

Eastern Illinois (3-0, 0-0 OVC) swept the Rattlers of Florida A&M (0-3, 0-0 SWAC) by a final score of 3-0 to improve to 3-0 on the season. It marks the first time since 1988 that EIU has started 3-0 in a season.

Ky Hampton (W, 1-0) goes six scoreless innings in his first outing of the season while allowing seven hits and striking out five Rattlers. Tre Simmons (L, 0-1) picks up the lose for A&M after going four innings and allowing two earned runs in the first two innings.

QUICK STATS
Ky Matthews-Hampton: W (1-0), 6 IP, 0 R, 7 H, 5 K
Grant Lashure: 2-4, 2B, R
Jared Evans: 1-1, RBI, 2B
Jonathon Hanscom:S (1) 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 5 K

Eastern Illinois scored a run in the first inning for the third straight game against Florida A&M. Lucas DiLuca was driven home by Cole Gober after an RBI single to center field. Gober collected five hits in his first three career games for the Panthers.

After a two strikeout first inning by Hampton, Eastern tacked on another run in the second with a sac fly by Lincoln Riley to score Cade Zalewski who started the inning off with a double. Hampton would escape the bottom of the second with two runners stranded.

Offense was tough to come by throughout the game. Eastern Illinois' three, four and five hitters combined for just two hits on the afternoon. With an opportunity with the bases loaded in the fourth inning for Florida A&M, Hampton struck out Joseph Pierini for the third out.

Hampton would go one, two, three in the sixth to end his afternoon on his way to picking up his first win of the season. EIU reliever Jonathon Hanscom would pick up where Hampton left off striking out five Rattlers in the final three innings. He allowed just one base runner on no hits.

Eastern Illinois would pick up an insurance run in the top of the eighth after pinch hitter Jared Evans recorded an RBI double to bring home Grant Lashure. EIU would go up 3-0 to close out the game. Hanscom struck out three in the final frame.

FAMU's Sebastian Greico went 1-4 on the afternoon with a double. The Rattlers' pitching staff produced six strikeout on the afternoon while allowing three runs.

The Panthers had three runs on seven hits with zero errors while the Rattlers scored no runs on seven hits with one error. EIU wil be back in action for a three game series against No. 8 ranked Arkansas next weekend starting on Friday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. CT.