Senior outfielder Casey Spears will have to get up and go to his 9 a.m. class, take a test at 10 a.m. and then head straight to Coaches Stadium for pre-game warmup.

Eastern (11-12, 4-2 Ohio Valley Conference) will host their second home OVC series this weekend against Murray State (6-20, 3-3) starting with a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m. and the last game on Saturday.

Normally the games would be played on Saturday and Sunday but were moved this weekend because of Easter Sunday.

Head coach Jim Schmitz said it is nothing like a Saturday doubleheader and he notices the difference in pre-game.

“The kids are going 8 o’clock, 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock and their mind is still in class because they just took a final,” Schmitz said. “It is a weird pre-game, you don’t get to just get up and come out to the field.”

During a regular Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader Schmitz said the Panthers have time to relax before the game because they don’t have to be at the ballpark until about 10:15 a.m.

Senior pitchers Chris Vaculik and Brandon Murphy had to reschedule their afternoon classes for 8 a.m. on Friday.

Vaculik said he hasn’t had an 8 a.m. since the first semester of his freshman year.

But he doesn’t think it will be a big deal because the Panthers already have to get up earlier for weights a few times a week.

“We just have to make do, we make arrangements with our teachers; there are no ifs, ands or buts about it,” Murphy said.

Spears said going straight from class to baseball will probably be a little difficult but it is something that needs to be done.

“It takes organization,” Spears said. “When you’re on the baseball field, you focus on baseball, and when you’re in the classroom, you focus on that.”

Murphy said it is always easy to keep focused on something other than baseball on game day.

“Unfortunately, class takes a backseat when we have a game,” Murphy said. “When you are sitting in class, you can’t help it. That’s all you’re thinking about.”

With this being the time of year when tests and papers seem to be piling up, Schmitz said he made sure to tell his team to get stuff done earlier this week and not put it off until the last minute.

The weather is another factor the Panthers are going to need to overcome this weekend.

Eastern has been playing in temperatures around the 70s and are going to have to adjust to the 40 degree weather that is expected this weekend.

“It is going to be tough; baseball is a sport you don’t want to play under fifty degrees,” Murphy said. “It hurts a batter’s hands when they hit the ball, and it takes awhile for us, pitchers to get our arms loose. It’s a discomfort but we will deal with it and hopefully it will only be here for two days and then blow out of town.”