Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz didn’t want to his team to play in another game like it did Saturday.

The Panthers played the last two innings through heavy rain and mud in the first game against Tennessee-Martin.

Schmitz canceled Tuesday’s game against Saint Xavier before Tuesday’s storm hit Charleston.

Schmitz said the game would most likely not be made up because they couldn’t find a time when both teams were available.

“It was a tough call,” Schmitz said. “Nine times out of ten, I’ll say come on, let’s play, I got a tarp.”

Schmitz said that when he called the meteorologist at WCIA in Champaign.

He said the meteorologist said they could not get a game in.

Although it is nice to have a mid-week game to get in some live pitching, the Panthers don’t think it is going to affect them going into this weekend’s conference series against Murray State.

“We would like to get an actual game in before conference play, but we will scrimmage against ourselves and be able to really focus on the things we need to for Murray,” said senior left fielder Mark Chagnon.

Saturday’s decision rested with umpire

Before the St. Xavier game started on Tuesday it was up to the home team whether or not to play the game.

But this weekend against UT-Martin, the game had already started and the decision was in the hands of the head umpire.

If the game was suspended Saturday, then on Sunday the Panthers would finish the suspended game and play only one more, Schmitz said.

“I knew that and that was a button I didn’t want to push because I didn’t want to come home 0-2 or 1-1,” Schmitz said. “I wanted the chance to come away with three if not two wins.”

They played through the last two innings and the Panthers lost 8-5 with the second game of the double header being rescheduled for Sunday.

On Sunday the double header consisted of two seven-inning contests and the Panthers won both (8-5 and 8-7).

“Tennessee Martin’s head coach (Bubba Cates), who is a good friend of mine, said it best: ‘No game do you want to be decided by the weather in baseball,'” Schmitz said. “I don’t want it to be sour grapes because they played in the rain too but it was bad on Saturday.”

Coming back from deficits help confidence

Last weekend’s series against Tennessee Martin wasn’t pretty, but it is a weekend Schmitz said he would not forget.

The Panthers lost the first game 8-7 after coming back from being down 5-0 and 4-1, respectively, in the second innings of game one and two.

The wins this past weekend put the Panthers in third place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Not only was the weekend unforgettable it may help the Panthers in the long run, Schmitz said.

“Winning these two games takes some of the pressure or will take some pressure off down the road,” Schmitz said. “Hopefully we are going to pitch better, do some things better, but you really can’t coach what they did to come back. They just toughed it out.”

Last year the Panthers were 3-3 at this time and Schmitz said it put the team in a hole. But this year, being above .500 will be a positive especially with games against first-place Jacksonville State (16-3, 6-0 OVC) and second place Southeast Missouri (19-8, 5-1) still left to play.

Senior first basemen Erik Huber said it gives the Panthers confidence to know that if they fall behind to some of these tougher teams down the stretch they can still come back.

Schmitz’s story time

On Sunday Schmitz drew some inspiration for a story from Ole Miss’s baseball team, where he used to be a coach.

This weekend Ole Miss played Auburn and won 4-2 on Friday and 7-4 on Saturday.

“I was reading about the game and the Ole Miss coach (Mike Bianco) was talking about how when Auburn scored, they answered,” Schmitz said. “We are all using these lines across the country, nothing you can do but try to get back in the game.”

Schmitz said he told the story to the team before the games on Sunday because Saturday was a tough loss and he wanted to show them that it wasn’t just an Eastern thing.

Huber said it puts things into perspective and shows them that the bigger, more recognized schools are going through the same things.

“We know what we need to do but these are just a different way of showing us,” Chagnon said.

Chagnon also said Schmitz’s stories really help the younger guys learn what to do and how things are done.

“The players call me Mr. Rodgers sometimes because I read to them, but we needed something to get their spirits up and I wanted to tell them something to say, ‘guys, we are going to be fine.'” Schmitz said.

Huber named OVC player of the week

Huber was named OVC player of the week after he hit 6-for-6 on Sunday with a total of five RBI’s and five of his own runs scored.

Huber is currently tied with former Panther Jeff Cammann’s single season hitting streak of 21 straight games.

Huber has a total of 7 homeruns and 25 RBI’s this season.

Schmitz said what really impresses him about Huber is his consistency.

“He has the ability to come in and do it day in and day out, midweek or weekend,” Schmitz said. “Many times when you have a power hitter they strike out a lot, but not Erik. He is able to make contact with the ball and get on base.”

Huber has only struck out seven times this season out of 94 at bats.

Schmitz said there are not a lot of ways for pitchers to get him out and the fact that he can hit a lot of what comes at him is what makes him so valuable.

Senior short stop Adam Varassi attempts a double play during the top of the seventh inning of Eastern’s 9-2 victory over Tennessee Tech at Coache’s stadium on Sunday afternoon. (Jay Grabiec/The Daily Eastern News)

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