The availability of Eastern’s pitching ace Jarad Marshall is still unknown as the Panthers opened their home schedule Wednesday afternoon.

“The status is he is rehabbing really well,” Panthers Coach Jim Schmitz said. “He had a mound session (Tuesday afternoon) and that mound session went really well, but I don’t know when he’ll be back in a game.”

Last season, Marshall posted a 7-2 record in 12 games for the Panthers as the team’s number three starter behind then seniors Matt Tyson and Damon White. However, during the off-season, Marshall underwent surgery and has not fully recovered. There was hope Marshall would be able to start the season, but in late February it was announced the team captain was unable to take the hill.

When Marshall underwent the surgery during the summer, Schmitz expected him back on the mound, but the Panther’s skipper admitted Wednesday predictions can sometimes be wrong.

“When we played (the surgery) out in the fall we did expect to have him back,” Schmitz said. “The rehabbing is going really well but a little bit slower than what we thought, however, I wouldn’t call him not on the mound right now as a setback.”

One reason the Panthers are taking their time with Marshall is to prevent further injury. Schmitz said he would rather have his senior miss a few more weeks than a few few more months.

“We’re going to take this thing slowly,” Schmitz said. “This is his last hooray, and we need him back so badly, but we’re not going to jeopardize a real setback where he does go throw, and now he’s out four to six weeks. We’re being cautious and maybe more cautious than we need to be. But that’s OK, we just need to go out and win a few series without him, and then when he comes back, we’ll be that much better.”

Unfortunately, the Panthers did not win any series during their three-week road trip to start the season. Eastern was swept by Mississippi, Southern Mississippi, South Alabama and Arkansas State as the Panthers saw their winless streak hit 14 games.

Schmitz admitted it was hard for the Panthers to go on the road against two ranked teams (Mississippi and Southern Mississippi) without Marshall.

“Southern Mississippi just beat Ole Miss (Tuesday night) and Ole Miss is ranked in the top five, so when you look back on a young team on spring break, you wish we’d win, but probably ten of those games were not winnable,” Schmitz said. “Our pitching weathered the storm on the trip, but now it’s time to get moving.”

Eastern is also without projected third starter Mike Budde who underwent “Tommy John” Surgery before the start of the season. Schmitz said Budde’s injury was a surprise to the coaching staff, but the rest of the Panther arms are filling in nicely for the sophomore.

“The injury to Mike Budde came right out of the blue after Fall Ball,” Schmitz said. “Here he is doing some pitching and throwing in the fall, and then he wakes up one morning and says ‘It doesn’t feel right,’ then he gets the MRI and surgery,” Schmitz said. “But we’ll be okay, (sophomore) Kirk Miller threw well and (freshman) Erik Huber’s thrown really well.”