FINAL STATS

JACKSONVILLE – T.J. McManus went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs to lead Eastern Illinois to a 17-8 win over Jacksonville State in the first game of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at Rudy Abbott Field on Thursday evening.
 
Mike Hoekstra scattered nine hits and had four strikeouts in six innings to earn the win, while Matt Borens allowed just two hits over the final three innings to pick up his first save of the year. JSU's Aaron Elias (2-8) gave up nine hits and seven runs in four innings to suffer the loss.
 
The Panthers (26-25, 15-9 OVC) jumped out to an early lead after scoring two in the first and three in the second inning to build a 5-0 lead, before the Gamecocks scored a run in the home half of the second on a RBI single by Andrew Bishop.
 
Jax State (24-28, 15-10) added another run in the third inning after Scott Underwood led off with a triple and scored on Sam Eberle's RBI single up the middle to cut the lead to 5-2. It marked the 39th straight game that Eberle has reached base for the Gamecocks.
 
The Panthers took control of the game after scoring six runs in the fifth inning as Brant Valach, David Diaglia, Nathan Sopena and McManus each recorded an RBI to give EIU a 11-2 lead.
 
The Gamecocks scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning when Eberle and Ben Waldrip both scored on sacrifice flies to cut the lead to 11-4.
 
Eastern Illinois added four more runs in the sixth inning to push the lead to 15-4, before the Gamecocks scored three in the seventh as Carlos Somoza drove in two runs, and added a run in the eighth inning when Scott Underwood scored on a sacrifice fly to make the score 15-8. The Panthers scored two more runs in the ninth inning for the final margin.
 
Caleb Howell, David Ciaglia and Nathan Sopena each added three hits, while Ryan Dineen, Jacob Reese, Ben Thomas and Vrant Valach each had two hits as the Panthers finished with a season-high 23 hits in the game.
 
Eberle, Waldrip and Scott Underwood each had a pair of hits to lead the Gamecocks, while Eberle also drew three walks.
 
The two teams will play the second game of the series on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Jax State will honor its 12 seniors during a pregame ceremony prior to the first pitch as Daniel Watts (4-6, 5.09 ERA) is scheduled to make the start for the Gamecocks.