MACOMB, Ill. (Interstat) — Peyton Wilson homered and drove in four runs as Eastern Illinois defeated Western Illinois 13-9 on Saturday afternoon at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

The Panthers, who improved to 31-19 overall, jumped to a quick lead with a four-run first inning and never trailed. The Leathernecks fell to 15-35.

Wilson, who entered the game with just one hit in his previous four contests, went 2 for 5 with a two-run home run in the third inning and added a run-scoring single in the fifth. He also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Eastern Illinois banged out 16 hits, with Mike O’Conor going 3 for 5 with four RBIs. James Love was 2 for 5 with two RBIs, and Brett Stanley also drove in two runs.

Western Illinois collected 14 hits, led by Kamryn Link’s 3-for-4, three-RBI performance. Joshua McClintock was 2 for 5 with two RBIs.

The game’s critical sequence came early. After the Panthers scored four times in the first — O’Conor singled home the first run and later stole second — they added two more in the second on Love’s RBI triple and a groundout by Stanley.

Wilson’s homer in the third, a two-run shot to left field, stretched the lead to 13-1 and chased Western starter Liam Humphrey. The Leathernecks’ bullpen slowed Eastern’s offense the rest of the way, allowing only a single unearned run in the seventh and an RBI single by O’Conor in the ninth.

Western Illinois mounted a late charge, scoring four times in the fifth to cut the deficit to 13-5. Link’s two-run single highlighted the inning. The Leathernecks then pushed across four more runs in the eighth, trimming the margin to 13-9. McClintock’s RBI single with two outs made it a four-run game, but Eastern reliever James Geshel retired Tyler Large on a flyout to center to end the inning.

Geshel worked two scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out one. Anthony Solis also threw 2 2/3 hitless frames with four strikeouts. Jack Helms started for the Panthers and pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs with six strikeouts.

For Western, Alex Esker tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Eastern Illinois won for the third straight time against Western, having taken the first two games of the series 9-8 and 7-1. The Panthers have now won 11 of their last 15 games. The Leathernecks have lost six of their last seven.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Eastern Illinois 5, Western Illinois 3, and the Interstat ELO system gave the Panthers a 71.40 percent probability to win.