Eastern Illinois University announced on April 28 that its baseball team will play a midweek game against Bradley University before hosting Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) for an important Ohio Valley Conference series.
These games are significant as the Panthers are currently tied for first place in the conference, sharing a 12-6 record with SEMO, Little Rock, and SIUE. With only three OVC series left to play, each matchup could impact the race for the top seed.
The Panthers will travel to Peoria to face Bradley on April 29 at Dozer Park. Eastern Illinois enters the week with a 24-15 overall record and holds the second-best record in Illinois. Last week, they went 3-1, including a series win over UT Martin and another victory against Butler. Mike O’Conor led at the plate with a .389 average and three home runs, while Tyler Castro posted a .647 on-base percentage. On the mound, James Geshel was nominated for OVC Pitcher of the Week after allowing two earned runs over 4.2 innings.
James Love extended his on-base streak to 43 games last week, tying him for fourth-best in NCAA Division I baseball. Tyler Conklin set a new program record with his 24th career win and leads both EIU and the conference with seven wins this season.
Bradley has struggled recently with an eight-game losing streak but is led offensively by Landon Lowe (.376 average) and two top-five base stealers in their conference. SEMO arrives after winning its latest series against SIUE; Joe Hall was named OVC Player of the Week while Caleb Klein leads in several offensive categories.
The all-time series between EIU and Bradley dates back to 1922; EIU won their most recent meeting last year. Against SEMO, both teams are tied historically at 38 wins each.
Looking ahead, these upcoming contests will help determine postseason seeding as several teams remain closely grouped atop conference standings.
