Box Score

LAKELAND, Fla. - Ben Koenigsfeld blasted a grand slam, and Joey Henshaw and Brandon Hines smacked three-run shots as Army rode the longball to a 13-6 defeat of Eastern Illinois, Tuesday morning at Henley Field.

Koenigsfeld broke open an early pitching duel between Army starter Steve Cummings and Panther starter Mike Martin when he launched a grand slam homer to left-center field in the top of the fourth inning off the Panthers' sophomore right-hander. Limited to one hit by Martin over the first three frames, Army loaded the bases in the fourth when Shaun Wixted was hit by a pitch, Joey Henshaw singled to left and Kevin McKague bunted for a base hit. Koenigsfeld followed with his second career grand slam, his second home run in two games.

Cummings held the defending Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champion Panthers in check over the first three innings, retiring 10 straight batters after Daniel Rowe opened the game by reaching base on an Army fielding error. After retiring the first batter in the fourth, Cummings allowed the first hit of the day for Eastern Illinois when Shawn Ferguson lined a sharp single to right. Ben Thoma followed with a wind-blown home run that wrapped just inside the right field foul pole, drawing the Panthers to within 4-2.

Wixted's opposite-field homer with two outs in the fifth rebuilt Army's lead to 5-2, but the Panthers scored two runs off Cummings in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Zach Borenstein and an RBI single by Thoma to close within 5-4.

Army took control of the game behind another four-run uprising in the eighth, this time against Panther reliever Dillon Roark. Clint Moore tripled to straightaway center field and Henshaw doubled just inside the first base bag for the Black Knights' first run of the inning. Koenigsfeld was walked intentionally, placing runners at first and second with two outs before Hines ripped a three-run home run, well over the fence in left field. Hines' first career roundtripper stretched Army's lead to 9-4.

Thoma's second home run of the game, a two-run shot off Henshaw with two outs in the eighth, closed the margin to 9-6, but Army put the game away with its third four-run burst of the contest. Henshaw's opposite-field three-run blast to left-center highlighted the stanza, while Koenigsfeld's run-scoring double to the gap in right-center accounted for the final 13-6 margin of victory for the Black Knights.

“I thought it was a quality win against a quality opponent,” stated Army head coach Joe Sottolano. “Steve Cummings set the tone for us early with a strong pitching performance and gave our offense time to get on track. As well as Steve threw the ball in the first three innings, our offense  was equally as strong over the final six innings.

“It was great to see the bullpen come in and have success. Although Joey Henshaw allowed a couple of runs he threw the ball extremely well and provides us with a lot of confidence in relief.”

Koenigsfeld, named Patriot League Pitcher of the Week for the second consecutive time on Monday, continued to swing a hot bat in left field for the Black Knights. He finished the day 3-for-4 with two runs and five runs batted in, while Henshaw went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and four runs batted in. McKague added two hits and two RBI for the Black Knights, who raised their record to 6-4 with the victory.

"Offensively, Ben Koenigsfeld got us going early as he continues to swing the bat very well and what was equally impressive was the entire ball club’s ability to tack on runs throughout the remainder of the ball game," Sottolano added. "It’s been fun to watch Brandon Hines respond to his opportunity the last few days. He’s given us a lift both offensively and in the field."

Cummings (1-1) earned his first win of the season in the mound for Army, tossing six strong innings. The senior southpaw allowed four runs (3 earned) on five hits, while striking out six and not walking a batter. Martin (0-2) suffered the loss for Eastern Illinois (3-10), which was coming off a weekend series victory over South Florida, winning two of three games against the Bulls in Tampa.

“We played great defense and received a well-pitched game," said Sottolano. "Once again, it was a very good win against a quality ball club.”

The Black Knights are idle until Friday when they square off against Bradley in a doubleheader at Henley Field. First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m.

Black Knights Blog: Army is 2-2 during its spring trip to Florida ... the Black Knights own wins over Long Island and Eastern Illinois ... Army has suffered setbacks against Yale and No. 6 Florida so far during the trip ... Shaun Wixted extended his hitting streak to nine games with his fifth-inning home run ... Wixted has hit safely in all nine games in which he has batted this season ... Joey Henshaw (8 games) and J.T. Watkins (5 games) also boast active hitting streaks numbering at least five games ... Watkins is batting .643 (9-14) during the Black Knights' southern swing ... with four home runs on Tuesday, Army equaled a season high it established during its season-opening defeat of Dayton ... Army has now knocked off the defending regular season conference champions from both the Atlantic 10 (Dayton) and Ohio Valley (Eastern Illinois) conferences this season ... Tuesday marked the first meeting between Army and Eastern Illinois ... the Black Knights recorded double digits in base hits for the seventh time in 10 games this spring and fifth time in the last six games ... Army also reached double figures in runs for the third time ... Henshaw moved into a tie for fifth place on the Black Knights' career home runs list (17) ... Ben Koenigsfeld notched his 10th career round tripper ... Steve Cummings increased his career won-loss record to 4-2 ... Army now has 13 home runs through 10 contests ... the Black Knights established a school record with 57 longballs in 57 contests a year ago ... Friday will mark the first meeting between Army and Bradley ... the Black Knights close out their spring trip with a Saturday evening matchup against nationally ranked Ohio State ... that game is slated to start at 6:30 p.m. at Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven.