After serving as Eastern baseball’s closer, long-reliever and spot-starter this season, head coach Jason Anderson put a firm label on sophomore right-hander Bryce Riggs’s role: game winner.
Riggs twirled a complete game, 10 strikeout gem against Lindenwood in the elimination semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament Friday evening at Mtn Dew Park in Marion, leading Eastern to a 3-1 win and helping the Panthers advance to the championship round.
“He’ll take the ball in any situation, and that’s why we’ve moved him around,” Anderson said. “As I saw things lining up with the tournament, I had him in mind for this game and he was great. He was spectacular”
Riggs had thrown seven no-hit innings before Lindenwood senior right fielder Filip Sarota broke it up with a leadoff infield single.
He hit a ball that took Eastern senior shortstop Peyton Wilson deep into the hole and his bounce throw got passed senior first baseman Tyler Castro.
“I did know [about the no-hitter], but I didn’t want to think about it,” Riggs said about him pitching at the start of the eighth inning.
It marks the first time Eastern has won a game in which its starter pitched a complete game since Ky Matthews-Hampton tossed a complete game shutout against UT Martin on April 23, 2021.
“[Starting in the OVC tournament] wasn’t something that he was daunted by or afraid of,” pitching coach Max Feske said. “There was nothing timid. He made pitches all night and mixed really well.”
Riggs worked in his fastball, which had a top velocity of 88 mph, with a curveball to right-handed hitters and a looping changeup to left-handed hitters and threw his slider frequently early in the game.
The Lions, who had seven hits combined between both semifinal games, struggled to get the barrel on any of Riggs’s pitches and it took until the ninth for their first extra base hit and run scored.
“It was just really fun to catch,” junior catcher Zak Goodwin said. “I mean, I didn’t have to do too much work when he’s just hitting all of his spots.”
Riggs threw 123 pitches across his nine innings of work, allowing Eastern to save its bullpen for the championship round on Saturday.
“That was huge,” Goodwin said. “He probably saved us four arms.”
The Panther offense manufactured its three runs, scoring one in the second, third and fifth innings respectively. Neither team got a single hit with runners on base, with both of Eastern’s RBIs coming on sacrifices.
“We can set the table, but we got to bang in some RBIs,” Anderson said. “I hope it all evens out to where tomorrow, we come out swinging.”
Eastern had more success with the sacrifice bunt than it did in both of Thursday’s games. The Panthers had two successful sacrifice bunts, including one in the fifth inning by Goodwin that scored the runner at third.
“We just kind of stuck our nose down and we needed to take some walks and get some bunts down,” Goodwin said. “Honestly, I’m not swinging it hot right now so when I got the call that I needed to get the bunt down I was like ‘let’s do it.’”
First pitch in Saturday’s championship game is set for noon. Eastern must win to force a winner-take all championship game against Little Rock.
Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.
