Something’s amiss about this current Eastern softball team.

It’s hard to analyze the team and find one particular flaw.

The pitching hasn’t been up to par.

The hitting has struggled.

The defense has failed at times.

It’s been a collective disappointment for a team that had higher aspirations than its predicted sixth place finish in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Now, the Panthers will have to somehow find a way to erase all the bad memories from an otherwise forgettable conference season thus far and figure it out – and soon.

Only 11 conference games remain, and with the Panthers in eighth place in the OVC at 5-10, its chances of qualifying for postseason play aren’t good.

The top six teams make the conference tournament

Coming into the year, the only starter Eastern had to replace was third baseman Rachel Karos. The senior was the unequivocal leader of the Panther squad last year, a vocal player who backed up what she did by producing on the field (a team-high .362 average, to go along with 17 RBIs, 15 stolen bases and only six errors committed).

The team also lost seniors Ashley Condon, Cassandra North, Nicole Eichelberger and Jenny Cervetto from last year’s team.

None of the four were significant, steady contributors on the field, with Condon, a pitcher, hitting .179, highest among the four.

But each made significant contributions in helping what this year’s team has struggled to do: win.

North sealed up a series win at Tennessee-Martin last year with her offensive production, driving in three runs in a series-clinching 4-0 win against the Skyhawks.

Eichelberger’s walk-off single in the second game of a late April series against Austin Peay helped Eastern keep alive what turned out to be a seven-game winning streak to end the regular season.

Condon pitched brilliantly in a 3-1 win against Bradley last year and also in a 4-1 win against Eastern Kentucky to end the regular season. Condon’s last win as a Panther helped the Panthers earn a No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.

Through 39 games last year, the Panthers had seven more wins than it does this year. Instead of being 17-22 like this year’s team, it went 24-15.

Some of those wins can be chalked up to playing inferior competition than this year. Playing Binghmaton during spring break, like Eastern did in 2006, doesn’t equate to playing national power California, like Eastern did during this year’s spring break.

After raising its record to 27-17 last year, the Panthers hit a losing skid, losing seven in a row.

Eastern, however, righted itself with a late, nine-game winning streak.

This team doesn’t have time to have an extended losing streak.

It needs to win, and it needs to win now.