Saturday, April 18, 2009 8:55 AM CDT
EIU to face defending OVC champion
By JG/T-C staff
sports@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON -- While striving to extend its current hot stretch, Eastern Illinois baseball is to also take advantage of an opportunity to honor two of the greatest teams in program history in conjunction with this weekend’s Ohio Valley Conference series against Jacksonville State.
Saturday’s doubleheader and the series finale Sunday are both slated for a noon first pitch. Members of the 1964 NAIA World Series and 1999 NCAA Regional teams are to be in attendance this weekend. Between games of Saturday’s doubleheader, both teams are to be recognized and pitching legend Marty Pattin is to have his EIU No. 19 retired. It is to be the first Panther baseball number retired and only the fourth overall in the history of Eastern Illinois athletics.
The first 250 fans arriving at Coaches Stadium Saturday are to receive a commemorative Martin Pattin T-shirt with his name and number featured on the back.
The on-field action, meanwhile, is to feature the two preseason favorites to win the OVC this year. Last season, Jacksonville State (20-13, 5-4 OVC) won the regular-season title and EIU (26-6, 9-1 OVC) captured the tournament crown. The Panthers enter the weekend having won 16 of their last 17 games.
Along with Pattin, those returning from the 1964 team includes: Nick Balodimas, Bob Clifford, Ted Colbert, Tad Heminger, Robert Hoffek, Dave Orr, Gene Vidoni and head coach Bill McCabe. Bart Zeller, who also played at EIU during that era before moving on to a professional career, are to be on hand as well. The 1964 Panthers went 23-7.
Along with EIU head coach Jim Schmitz and assistant coach Sean Lyons, those returning from the 1999 team includes: Jamie Baker, Ryan Bridgewater, Josh Landon, John Larson, Keith Laski, Matt Marzec, Scott Metz, Brian Nickell, Mitch Rosenthal and Mark Tomse. The 1999 Panthers went 33-23, won both the OVC regular-season and tournament titles and defeated Arizona at the Waco, Texas NCAA Regional.
“I really, really will enjoy this weekend,” said Schmitz.. “The ‘99 team was very good with a lot of special guys. For me, I’m getting to that age now, reunions are about seeing good friends; they’re not players anymore. I’m real excited and glad to bring them back.”
Pattin was an All-American pitcher who went on to enjoy an extremely successful 13-year Major League pitching career with five American League teams. The Charleston native won 114 games and recorded 1,179 strikeouts as a Major Leaguer. Six times Pattin won more than 10 games in a single season. He pitched a one-hitter vs. the world champion Oakland A’s in 1972, was a member of the 1971 American League All-Star team, participated in four American League Divisional playoff series with the Kansas City Royals and ended a spectacular career by pitching for the Royals in the 1980 World Series.
Pattin is a charter member of the EIU Hall of Fame in 1982 and was selected to the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1972.
Since joining the OVC in 2004, Jacksonville State has been the premier program in the league. The Gamecocks have won two regular-season titles (2005 and 2008) and two tournament titles (2004 and 2006) in their five years as a league member. However, EIU leads the series as conference rivals, 9-8. Eastern is the only OVC school that Jacksonville State does not have a winning record against.
“We play good competition and a good schedule, so when we play J-State, SEMO or whoever, we don’t make it out to be more than what it is,” Schmitz said. “We enjoy playing against them. Some teams you have a lot of animosity toward, and we don’t. We know they’re a good team. We know we’re going to face them again in the tournament. Our guys really get up for it, but in a composed way, and maybe that’s why we do well.”
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