Even after winning 10 of their last 13 games and pulling within a half-game of second place in the Ohio Valley Conference, today’s home game against Aurora University could be a chance for a letdown for Eastern’s baseball team.

While Aurora is a Division III school, the Panthers struggled earlier this year against a similar opponent, NAIA’s Olivet Nazarene.

In the April 4 home game against ONU, the Panthers trailed 7-6 in the bottom of the eighth, before making a furious rally to avoid an upset.

This time may be different. Aurora is considered a Division III powerhouse, with five Division III NCAA College World Series appearances in the last 15 years.

With a home game Wednesday against Southern Illinois and a weekend showdown with first-place Samford looming, the Panthers are wary of the Spartans (19-5).

“I think there is a tendency to have a letdown in these games,” said Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz. “But, if you talk so much about it and make a big deal of it, then we’ll leave with a loss.”

Junior pitcher Mike Budde will start today against Aurora with freshmen Jake Wade and Ross Jeske also planning to see significant time on the mound. The mid-week games against non-conference teams have allowed Schmitz to get a better hold on his talent and configure a better lineup and rotation.

“I finally got our rotation and pitching staff aligned to what we think is best,” Schmitz said. “I didn’t do a good job early on with giving players their roles. Any player wants to know their role.”

With sophomore Mike Manns and junior Drew Gierich slotted as the No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers, and senior Kenny Firlit’s strong showing against Indiana State, the Panthers may have found some consistency in a position that had been lacking.

“We need to find two more starting arms,” Schmitz said. “Budde will get a shot today and Jeske and Wade will be given more opportunities. This is their chance.”

As much credit as the Eastern pitching staff has received, the offense deserves its fair share.

In the last 13 games, the Panthers averaged 7.4 runs per game while climbing to second in the OVC in batting average (.299).

“Our hitters are starting to take shape as far as seeing pitches,” Schmitz said. “But if you pitch pretty well, usually everything else falls into place.”

With the Panthers’ pitchers doing their part, the only place the team wants to fall into is first.