Eastern entered the Wolfe Sycamore Classic at Indiana State riding a five-game winning streak. But late errors in Saturday’s tournament opener cost them the game and their winning streak.

“We never worry about winning or losing; we go out there and play our best,” head coach Kim Schuette said. “We went out there and were playing well. They scored a few runs, and we got nervous-you can never play scared.”

The Panthers lost their first game against Indiana State 9-8.

The Sycamores made their way around the bases mostly because of Eastern’s errors.

Errors in the last inning let the Sycamores take the win without the benefit of a hit. Pitcher Karyn Mackie began the inning with a walk followed by an error and a wild pitch. The inning continued with the same types of errors and resulted in two unearned runs and a Panther loss.

“After the first couple of innings, we couldn’t do anything right,” Schuette said.

The second game of the day against St. Mary’s also ended in a loss.

The 9-0 score reflected the team’s weak offense and defense.

“We had more errors in our first two games than we’ve had the entire season,” said sophomore pitcher Karyn Mackie.

The Panthers committed five errors and had just four hits in the game. This resulted in six unearned runs for St. Mary’s.

Rachel Karos said her team did not seem comfortable.

The girls regained their composure later in the day, according to Schuette.

In the Panthers’ third game of the day, Eastern and Western Illinois tied 1-1 after the game was called on account of darkness after six innings.

Pitcher Kathleen Jacoby held Western scoreless until first baseman Meg Strazar led off the fourth inning with a home run.

However, junior Chelsea Adams led off the fifth with a double and scored two batters later on a ground out by Sara Coppert.

The coach said her team learned a lot on Saturday and will continue to focus on what it needs to do and not worry about the other team.

The results of Sunday’s games showed more focus.

The Panthers beat St. Mary’s 4-3 and Western 5-4 in Sunday’s games.

“We played more of our style softball, we had more energy and more spunk in our game and came out ready to play,” said Schuette.

In their second match-up with St. Mary’s, Bro Russell gave the Gaels a 1-0 lead when she scored on a wild pitch by Karyn Mackie.

The Panthers responded with two runs in the first and two more in the second inning.

“Mostly we were just more focused on winning, and our hits fell through in more timely spots,” said Mackie. “A lot less errors and better pitching.”

Eastern committed just one error and had a two-run first inning as they finished the tournament 2-2-1 with a 5-4 win against Western Illinois.

Katy Steele gives credit to hitting. The team had an uncharacteristic weekend of RBIs and hits coupled with good base running.

Schuette was surprised by hitting done by all teams.

“I’ve never seen this much hitting and offense in hitting this early in the season.”

Senior Rachel Karos said, “Saturday was just a fluke, it takes a while to realize we are as good as we are and not hold ourselves back.”

Focus and aggressive offense will be on this weeks practice schedule as the team prepares for the “Rebel Games” in Kissimmee, Fla., over Spring Break.