Illinois junior catcher Jason Goldstein went 3-for-5 with six runs batted in to help the Fighting Illini

defeat the Eastern baseball team 14-10 at Coaches Stadium Tuesday.

Goldstein hit a grand slam in the top of the first inning off Eastern red-shirt senior pitcher Christian Slazinik to give the Illini a 4-0 lead.

Illinois first baseman David Kerian, who leads the Big Ten in home runs with eight, hit a home run in the top of the first to give the Illini a 5-0 lead.

Eastern coach Jimmy Schmitz pulled Slazinik after the first inning and was not happy with the way he pitched.

Slazinik allowed five runs on four hits and allowed two walks while striking out two batters.

Eastern got on the board in the top of the second inning after junior designated hitter Jason Scholl hit an RBI-groundout, which scored red-shirt junior Demetre Taylor.

After sophomore Marshawn Taylor made it 5-2 in the second, freshman Cale Hennemann singled up the middle in the bottom of the third to make it 5-3.

Trailing 5-4, Scholl singled up the middle driving in seniors Caleb Howell and Brant Valach to give Eastern a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the third.

Eastern knocked out Illinois pitcher Cody Sedlock after 2 2/3 innings pitched. Sedlock allowed four runs, and eight runs.

The Panthers lead did not last long as Illinois would score seven unanswered runs in the next three innings to give the Illini a 12-6 lead.

Eastern pitcher Andy Fisher allowed five runs in two innings and took the loss on the mound for the Panthers.

Goldstein singled to right, which scored Ryan Nagle in the top of the fourth to tie the game at six. Cody Fletcher would hit an RBI-single to right to give Illinois the lead back at 7-6.

When Illinois took a 12-6 lead, Schmitz thought his team did not respond well to it, like the first time when the Panthers came back from 5-0 early in the game.

Schmitz was impressed with Illinois relief pitcher J.D. Nielsen, who shut the Panthers out through three innings and allowed one walk.

Jack Martin singled to right field in the top of the seventh, which scored Valach to make it 12-7. Illinois added a run in the top of the eighth inning, when Ryne Roper hit a home run to left field.

Trailing by six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Panther Bobby Wenthe singled up the middle, scoring Martin.

Brant Valach hit a deep fly ball to the left center field warning track with the bases loaded down four runs.

Valach said all you could ask for was a chance against the No. 12 team in the nation.

“It was really good to see that we came back,” he said. “That was something we didn’t do earlier in the year. When we went down, we stayed down. If we go down, we have to find a way to build off those first two innings. I don’t think we quit, but we didn’t need what really got, we needed to get more.”

Valach finished the game 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a walk.

As a team, the Panthers finished the day with 10 runs on 18 hits, and Schmitz said, despite the loss, he is happy with a lot of things.
“At the end of the game, we went the other way and just got the little hits that you have to do at the end of the game,” he said.

Eastern will be back in action Wednesday against Indiana State at Coaches Stadium at 3 p.m.

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].