Opening its 100th season of play, a young and unproven Eastern baseball team pulled off one of its biggest upsets in recent years during the first game of the Holiday Inn and Suites/Citgo Classic in Monroe, La.

Eastern may have needed extra innings, but the Panthers started the season with a stunning 6-4 victory over 2003 College World Series participant Southwest Missouri State last Friday.

In a meeting between two former Mid-Continent Conference rivals, it was SMS who dented the scoreboard first on designated hitter Justin DePriest’s RBI single to left field in the second inning.

Held to one hit through the first three innings by SMS starter Derek Drage, the Panthers broke out with three runs in the fourth.

The Bears cut the deficit to one off Eastern starter Kyle Widegren in the bottom half of the fourth when Depriest picked up his second RBI of the day, this time with a single.

Eastern added to its 3-2 lead in the seventh off SMS reliever Chris Krawczyk when Chris Uhle took a two-strike offering to left field scoring Marcus Jackson.

Up by two runs in the bottom of eighth, the Panthers were unable to hold the lead as SMS connected for two runs off Eastern reliever Erik Huber.

SMS had another golden opportunity to end the game when the Bears had the bases loaded with just one out in the tenth. However, Panther reliever Andy Kuntz got out of trouble by striking out pinch-hitter Daniel Webb and Pummill to end the threat.

Each team left a runner on base in the the 11th inning before the Panthers took the lead for good in the 12th.

Cammann led off the frame with a single through the left side and advanced to second after Haines grounded out.

Pinch-hitter Jason Pinnell came to plate and hit a ground ball to second that was misplayed by Pummill allowing Cammann to score from second. The Panthers added an insurance run two batters later when Jackson singled to left scoring Pinnell to give the Panthers a 6-4 lead.

Kuntz held the Bears scoreless in the bottom half of the inning to pick up the victory.

Unfortunately for the Panthers the rest of the weekend didn’t go as well with two straight losses to host Louisiana-Monroe and Kansas State.

The Indians set the tone early against the Panthers when Louisiana-Monroe outfielder Kade Eady robbed Uhle on a leadoff home run to start the game. The Indians then scored four runs in the first inning and never trailed in their 15-4 victory.

The pitching trouble continued in the finale of the tournament as Kansas State pounded out 10 hits and scored 12 runs off four Eastern hurlers. Sophomore Matt Hall took the loss giving up three runs (two earned) in 2.1 innings of work.

Uhle, Campbell and freshman catcher Joe Hernandez had the RBIs for the Panthers who fell to 1-2 of the season.

Tuesday’s home game against Indiana State has been postponed. The Panthers will next take the diamond over the weekend for a three-game road series with the Mississippi Rebels.