Solid pitching led the way as Eastern allowed only six runs in their three-game sweep over Morehead State this past weekend.

The sweep was exactly what Eastern needed as it gives the team momentum going during postseason play.

The Panthers trailed Eastern Kentucky by a half game coming into the weekend, but Eastern’s trio of wins led to them passing EKU in the standings and grabbing the third seed for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

“We thought getting the third seed was important to win the tournament as it gives us an easier road to the finals,” Eastern head Coach Jim Schmitz said.

Eastern won the first game by the score of 8-0 as Drew Geirich pitched seven and 1/3 innings of shutout ball to earn the win. The Panthers scored a run in the first to take a 1-0 lead. That score held up until Eastern put up a seven spot in the seventh, putting the game out of reach.

The Panthers took the momentum from the game one victory and kept it going at the start of game two as they took a 3-0 lead into the third inning. Eastern never trailed and won the game 6-4.

Brett Nommensen, Erik Huber and Blake Meyer all had multi-hit games leading the offensive attack. Mike Budde pitched two innings of scoreless relief, earning his fifth victory of the season.

A good starting pitching performance by Jake Wade allowed the Panthers to jump out to an early lead once again as Eastern led 3-0 through five innings in the third and final game of the weekend series.

The Eagles scored their only two runs in the top of the sixth to get within one, but Eastern added three more runs in the bottom of the seventh to extend the lead to 6-2. The Panthers added their final tally in the bottom of the eighth for the 7-2 victory.

Wade improved his record to 4-1 with the win and Alex Guttosch pitched four innings of one-hit ball for his third save of the year.

The Panthers had a balanced offensive attack as eight of the nine starters collected at least one hit.

Erik Huber picked up three hits in the third game and seven in the series, running his season total to a conference-leading 76. Huber also led the OVC with a .400 batting average and a .494 on-base percentage.

Chris Vaculik picked up the save in both games on Friday running his save total to eight this season and 17 for his career. The 17 career saves for Vaculik is an Eastern all-time record.

The junior closer said he takes pride in going out there and closing down the win for the team and attributes his new record to getting the numerous opportunities to pitch.

Schmitz said Vaculik has done a great job over his three years and that he wants the ball everyday, which is a necessary mentality for a closer.

“You can’t find a better closer in this league,” Schmitz said.

The Panthers finished the regular season with a 31-22 overall record and a 17-10 conference record.

The regular season goal for the Panthers was to get 18 conference wins and the one or two seed for the tournament. While the Panthers fell just short of those goals, they now enter the conference tournament with one goal in mind, to win the tournament.

“I think we are set up to do it,” Schmitz said.

Vaculik said that the team’s confidence is high right now and that they are positioned for a good run in the tournament.

Huber thinks that the team is extremely focused on the task at hand.

“Anything less will be a disappointment,” the junior first baseman said.

The tournament kicks off Wednesday as Eastern squares off with sixth seed Southeast Missouri State in the opening round of the OVC tournament at Brooks Stadium in Paducah, Ky.

SEMO finished the regular season with a 11-17 conference record, 21-31 overall. The Redhawks have won four of their last five games.

Eastern won two of the three meetings with SEMO during conference play.

Junior catcher Jason Cobb lays down a sacrificial bunt in the fifth inning to drive in junior first baseman Erik Huber for a run during Saturday’s series finale against Morehead Stateat Coaches Stadium. The Panthers swept Morehead State after winning Frid

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