Eastern might see the swing of Illinois’ Chris Robinson in its sleep as the junior had a career night as the Panthers fell to the home Illini 18-11.

The Fighting Illini catcher ended the evening 4-for-4 with seven RBIs, four runs scored and a pair of home runs to give Illinois its seventh straight win over Eastern.

Illinois jumped on Eastern starter Erik Huber (0-1) early and often ending in an 8-0 Illini lead after two innings.

Huber took his first loss of the season after being held out of pitching duty due to an elbow injury that occurred last summer.

Robinson and Illinois left fielder Drew Davidson both went deep for two-run homers in the opening inning giving Illini starter Joel Barickman an instant four-run cushion.

The junior shut down the Panthers in the first two innings but struggled after that allowing eight runs on 11 hits in 3.2 innings of work.

A bases-loaded double by Robinson made it 7-0 and then scored on a double play ball hit by first baseman Dusty Bensko.

The Panthers (9-30) made it competitive in the third inning after designated hitter Jason Cobb’s three-run home run off Barickman was followed by a long bomb to right field by Chad Watson.

With the score 11-8, Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz decided to intentionally walk Robinson to load the bases, but reliever Kenny Firlit uncorked a wild pitch to the next batter to score a run. Two more sacrifices led to a 14-8 Illini lead.

Robinson, the Canadian native that played for its home country in the World Cup of Baseball, led the Illini (24-12-1) in average last year (.359) and had a career-high eight RBIs against MacMurray last year.

Keiji Szalo’s three-run homer to left field off Illini reliever Jonathan Smiley brought Eastern back from the dead to a 14-11 deficit, but the Panthers failed to hold Illinois in the sixth frame.

Panthers reliever Brian Long faced eight batters in the sixth inning allowing three runs on three hits. After the Illini teed off on Long, the Eastern deficit was a near impossible six runs at 17-11.

To ensure the victory in the final two innings, Illinois head coach Richard “Itch” Jones decided to bring Charleston native Brandon Murphy to the mound.

The Charleston High School star pitcher and quarterback did not allow a hit in 1.1 innings of work striking out a pair.

Eastern will try to rebound today as the Panthers host Illinois State at Coaches Stadium.