Tennessee Tech pitcher Bonnie Bynum was nearly unhittable Saturday against Eastern. The hard-throwing right-hander and last year’s Ohio Valley Conference Female Athlete of the Year held the Panthers to three hits en route to the Golden Eagles 7-0 win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.She wasn’t unhittable Sunday and the Panthers scored seven runs off the conference’s best pitcher.However, they weren’t enough for Eastern to win. The Golden Eagles scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth, overcoming a 6-4 deficit to lead 11-6 heading into the seventh.The Panthers scored once in the seventh off Bynum, but the senior settled down and held on for Tech to earn an 11-7 win.”They just erupted for base hit after base hit,” said Eastern head coach Kim Schuette. “Their bats got hot. We couldn’t stop the bleeding quick enough.”Eastern’s offense produced first, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after the second inning.Senior designated hitter Katy Steele hit a home run and the Panthers capitalized on two errors by Tech.The 3-0 lead didn’t last long for Eastern.Tech answered with four runs in the third inning, and chased Panther starter Karyn Mackie from the pitcher’s circle.Junior pitcher Ashley Robison came on in the inning and got Eastern out of a jam, getting Tech to line into a double play.The Panthers then scored three runs in the fifth inning, giving Eastern a 6-4 lead. Eastern can thank sophomore second baseman Sarah Coppert for the lead.The Maple Park native, who finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, fell behind in the count before pulling the ball into the left-center field gap for her sixth double of the year.”She put two strikes right past me so I was getting pretty angry,” Coppert said of Bynum’s pitching. The double scored Steele and Sandyn Short to give Eastern the two-run lead.”She was clutch today,” Robison said of Coppert. “She really came through today.”The lead didn’t last long, with Tech’s designated player Kristyn Castonzo connecting for a two-run home run off Robison in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game at 6. After Tech’s Beth Boden singled and then Katie Speiser reached on a fielder’s choice, Tech second baseman Krystina Dobbs doubled to right-center, scoring Boden and Speiser. “You try and make good pitches on them,” Robison said. “I was just trying to throw so they could hit ground balls. They’re just really good hitters.”Tech added three more runs against Robison and Eastern before Maegan Golloway came on to get the final out of the inning. Robison faced seven batters in the inning.”Ashley does a good job keeping the ball down,” Schuette said. “It’s kind of, yeah, maybe I should have taken her out sooner but I felt that she had done well keeping to that point.”The Golden Eagles won Saturday’s second game, 4-1, and handed Eastern its eighth loss in the last 10 games with Sunday’s win.Schuette said the team had several discussions before Sunday’s game concerning their hitting.”The girls just got the bat off the shoulder and swung today,” Schuette said. “You can never get a hit unless you swing the bat. We were not aggressive at all (Saturday). Today, we brought out a different fire.”Eastern’s results during Spring Break

Date

Opponent

Score

March 9

Cal Poly

L 9-3

March 9

San Jose State

L 5-0

March 10

California

L 5-3

March 10

UC Riverside

W 5-4

March 11

UC Davis

L 2-0

Wednesday

St. Mary’s (Cal.)

W 3-1

Saturday

Tennessee Tech

L 7-0

Saturday

Tennessee Tech

L 4-1

-For a complete box score of Sunday’s game at Tennessee Tech, click here.

Sophomore outfielder Angela Danka tags Eastern outfielder Megan Nelson during practice on March 6 at O’Brien Stadium. Spring Break didn’t produce the results Eastern wanted, with the Panthers going 2-8 during the break. (Jay Grabiec/The Daily Eastern New

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