The Eastern baseball team came up short Tuesday in an high-scoring matchup against Southern Illinois, losing to the Salukis 10-9 on the road.

The Panthers are now 2-2 on the season after winning 2-of-3 against Nicholls State to open the season.

The Panthers jumped ahead 4-0 by the second inning before allowing 6 unanswered runs to Southern Illinois, five of which came in the bottom of the third.

Eastern would get the lead back in the fourth, scoring 3 runs, but then lost it again in the bottom of the inning, allowing the Salukis to 3 runs of their own. Southern held on to their lead, eventually winning by 1 run.

Redshirt-sophomore Logan Eickhoff led the team with 3 hits and 3 RBI in the game. His fellow redshirt-sophomore Trey Sweeney added 2 hits and 2 RBI and redshirt junior Dalton Doyle contributed a 2-run single.

Redshirt-freshman Hayden Birdsong got stuck with the loss for Eastern, allowing 4 earned runs in 3.2 innings on the mound.

Eastern is back in action this weekend, playing Arkansas Little Rock on the road on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Sports Staff can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].