Editor’s Note: Tuesday’s game against U of I has been rained out and cancelled. 

This season offensively, Eastern has a team batting average of .224 and has accumulated 88 total bases, which ranks last in the Ohio Valley Conference in both categories.

Manager Jason Anderson attributed the slow offensive start to the team’s inability to get significant time to practice outside due to the weather, and the quality pitching the hitters has seen so far.

“We’ve faced some really good arms,” Anderson said. “Most of the pitchers that we faced in the nine games have [a fastball speed of] 92-plus mph.”

Sophomore right-hander Anthony Solis will make his second start of the season for the Panthers, Anderson said. Solis is 2-0 with a 6.75 earned run average in 6.2 innings. In his first start of the season against Arkansas State, Solis threw five innings and gave up seven hits and three runs, striking out zero batters and walking two.

“I think he’s doing great,” Anderson said. “The developmental process is there. He goes out and competes and he’s figuring out that his stuff will really play.”

Eastern has three more midweek non-conference games and two more three-game weekend series before the Panthers OVC and home opener against Lindenwood on March 21.

“All these games are non-conference,” Anderson said. “A Friday game is the same as a Tuesday game to me. So tomorrow, we’re really just trying to go out and compete, play good baseball and win regardless of who’s out there.”

Eastern baseball’s game against the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on Tuesday is more than just a midweek college baseball game.

For Anderson, it’s a meeting between his past and his present.

“It’s always a treat for me,” Anderson said. “The guys know how important the game is.”

Anderson is a U of I alum who went on to pitch professionally and made 32 appearances for three Major League Baseball teams.

In 2000, he was an all-American pitcher who went 14-3 in 134.1 innings of work. He was named the Big Ten pitcher of the year, and his performance in 2000 holds the U of I record for wins in a season and innings pitched in a season.

Now as manager for the Panthers (3-6), Anderson faces the Illini (6-4) for a fourth consecutive season.

“Obviously, it’s a bigger school,” Anderson said. “It’s a challenge to kind of go out and do something that people might not think you can do, but we think we can go out and we can compete with anybody.”

Last season, the Illini qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019 with a record of 35-21. Tuesday marks the 88th all-time meeting between U of I and Eastern, with the Illini leading the series 59-28. The first meeting took place in 1960, and the two teams played each other at least once every season from 1982-2016 except for 1999 and 2001. The Panthers have won three of the last 10 games against the Illini.

“It’s a good challenge to go out and do it,” Anderson said. “For us, it’s just a chance to play good competition.”

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.