The Eastern Illinois baseball team experienced a series of highs and lows in the second game of Saturday’s 11-9 come-from-behind victory at Murray State.

After dropping the opener of the doubleheader to the last-place Thoroughbreds, the Panthers came out slow in Game 2.

Murray State scored eight runs in the second inning to go ahead 8-3.

“We were just very bad in the first game-and-a-half,” Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz said. “I don’t know what was going on.”

Like the Panthers have done all season, they staged a comeback. Eastern scored eight runs in the seventh inning to take an 11-8 lead. The Panthers also pulled out a 9-4 victory Sunday to take the series.

More astonishing about the comeback was that six of the eight runs were scored with two outs.

“I’m still trying to figure out how it happened,” Schmitz said of the eight-run rally. “We’ve come back so well this season. Once we get the momentum going, we become a different team.”

Schmitz credits most of the Panthers’ demise to some horrendous defense.

“We’ve been awful defensively the last week or so,” he said. “I was so happy with our defense after spring break, but all of a sudden it’s gone down the tubes.”

The Panthers sent 13 men to the plate, while Mark Chagnon and Jordan Kreke collected two hits each in the inning.

With the Thoroughbreds leading 9-5, the Panthers started their rally thanks to a two-out error committed by Murray State.

Chagnon tied the game with his second single of the inning to score two runs. Kreke followed with a two-run single to put the Panthers ahead for good.

“I can’t say enough about Jordan Kreke,” Schmitz said. “He comes in for (Jason) Cobb, goes 2-for-2 with three RBIs. he was unbelievable.”

While making comebacks has been a staple for the Panthers (15-13, 5-4 OVC) success this season, Schmitz knows that Eastern can’t rely on it.

“We have to come out and start better than we have,” Schmitz said.

The importance of the series was weighing heavily on the Panthers. With the Panthers taking two out of three from Murray State, Eastern stands in fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference with key series approaching against Jacksonville State and Samford.

“Five and four is a good spot to be in right now,” Schmitz said. “Coming home with two wins gets us in the hunt. These next few series are going to be unbelievable.”

For the Panthers to get on any type of winning streak, Schmitz has to find a dependable No. 3 starter behind Drew Gierich and Brandon Murphy.

Mike Manns was the most recent to get a shot at the No. 3 spot, but he failed to get out of the second inning in his last two starts.

“Mike went out there and didn’t do a good job,” Schmitz said. “I’m not sure where we’re going to go for the No. 3 starter. It’s up for someone to step up.”