CHARLESTON, Ill. – Ryan Niedzwiedz, Mack Mitchell and Cooper Eggert each hit two home runs, the Cougars hit eight total and finished off a dominant three-game sweep of Eastern Illinois with a 20-9 win Sunday in the series finale.
The Cougar hit 17 home runs and scored 39 runs in the three-game sweep of the Panthers.
Sunday's win was the 30th of the season for the Cougars, marking the first time SIUE has won 30 games in a season since moving to Division I. The last 30-win season for SIUE came in 2007.
SIUE has won eight in a row and improved to 18-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play. SIUE has a two-game lead in the league with three to play in the regular season. The Cougars are 30-21 overall.
Eastern Illinois dropped to 15-9 in the OVC and 28-18 overall.
For the second day in a row, Niedzwiedz got the scoring started with a two-run home run in the first inning. It was his fourth in two days in the series. Brenden Fry doubled to drive in two in the second to push the lead to 4-0.
The Panthers cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second inning on a Tyler Castro two-run single.
Mitchell's second homer of the series and an RBI-single by Brenden Fry made it 6-2 in the third inning.
A James Love home run for EIU in the bottom of the inning cut the lead back to 6-3.
Chase Bloomer led off the fourth inning with his 10th home run of the year and Cooper Eggert homered with one out in the fifth for an 8-3 SIUE lead.
The Panthers got a two-run hit from Zak Goodwin to make it 8-5 after five innings.
SIUE starter Jase Phillips worked into the fifth inning, allowing five runs on six hits.
Nine SIUE hitters came to the plate in the sixth inning and the Cougars scored five more times. After RBI hits from Niedzwiedz and Joshua Heyder, Ethan Willoughby drove home Niedzwiedz with a sacrifice fly and Mitchell hit his second home run of the game to make it a 13-5 advantage.
It was 13-6 when the Cougars tacked on seven more in the ninth inning. Daniel Gierer drove home a run with a double and Bloomer hit a sacrifice fly into shallow right field. A throwing error added another run on the play. Niedzwiedz hit a solo home run and Eggert capped things off with a three-run blast.
Eastern Illinois had a three-run inning of their own in the ninth.
SIUE outhit EIU 20-14. Sean Kang finished 4-6 with two runs scored. Bloomer and Niedzwiedz each had three hits. Niedzwiedz and Eggert finished with four RBIs apiece.
The Cougars will face SIU Carbondale on the road Tuesday before the wrap the regular season with a three-game OVC series with UT Martin at Simmons Baseball Complex starting Thursday.
