The Eastern baseball team lost to Bradley on Tuesday by the score of 8-0.

This marked the third time Eastern has been shutout this season.

The team was using the game to get numerous players some game experience as the Panthers used 13 position players as well as five pitchers.

With that in mind, Eastern Head Coach Jim Schmitz still thought it was an embarrassing loss.

‘We didn’t play up to our capabilities,” Schmitz said.

Bradley starting pitcher, Rob Scahill, held the Panthers to three hits during his seven innings of work, while striking out seven. Eastern only accumulated six hits for the entire game, two of which came off the bat of right fielder Dan Fox.

Jake Wade took the loss for the Panthers as the starter gave up three runs, two of which were earned, in 2 2/3 innings.

Bradley took advantage of a couple miscues by Eastern as they put up five runs off of reliever Kirk Miller in his one inning of work.

The loss dropped Eastern’s overall record to 28-22 while Bradley improved to 24-26.

The team’s focus now shifts to this upcoming weekend as the Panthers play host to Morehead State for three games.

The Eagles enter the weekend series with an overall record of 17-33 and a conference record of 8-15.

This weekend is a critical juncture for Eastern as the team has changed its focus from winning the regular season conference title, which is no longer possible, to winning the conference tournament.

“The way you do that is by playing winning baseball,” Schmitz said.

The Panthers currently sit in fourth place in the OVC (Ohio Valley Conference), but with a successful weekend they can change their momentum, as well as possibly move up to the third seed.

The team currently trails Eastern Kentucky by a half game in the standings. EKU plays host to fifth place Austin Peay for three games this weekend. Eastern currently leads The Governors by one game.

The double-header against Morehead St. starts at 1 p.m. Friday at Coaches Stadium.

This weekend is Senior Recognition weekend. Senior ceremonies will be held in between games one and two on Friday.

The regular season finale will begin on Saturday at 1 p.m.