The Eastern softball team won the Ohio Valley Conference opening series against Tennessee State.

Eastern split the series on Sunday, but took the first game on Saturday.

Eastern lost 5-2 in the first game on Sunday, but came back for a 3-2 in the nightcap.

Sophomore left fielder Denee Menzione hit a home run to left field in the top of the fourth to give Eastern a 2-1 against Tennessee State on Saturday.

The softball team finished its Spring Break trip with a 1-6 record, which culminated with a doubleheader loss to Florida International in Miami, Fla.

The Panthers began the trip with a 2-1 loss to Florida Gulf Coast in eight innings. Eastern’s lone win came against Bethune Cookman, 8-0.

Junior second baseman Sarah Coppert started all seven games on the trip and finished with a .368 average and three RBIs.

Senior pitcher Ashley Robison had Eastern’s lone win and finished 1-1 with a 3.34 ERA.

Baseball finishes successful Spring Break trip

Eastern’s men’s baseball team finished a successful trip to Bradenton, Fla., last week.

The Panthers went 5-3 at the Florida All-Star Challenge.

Eastern (5-9) defeated Bucknell twice, along with Vermont, Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne and Northern Iowa.

The Panthers began the week with a 13-5 loss to Western Michigan. Eastern bounced back with three straight wins before losing to Akron, 11-1, on March 12. Eastern lost 7-1 to Illinois State the next day but won its final two games of the tournament.

Junior infielder Jordan Tokarz started all eight games on the Florida trip and batted .455 with 11 runs and 5 RBIs.

Junior infielder Jordan Kreke led Eastern with nine RBIs, and sophomore catcher Richie Derbak had eight.

Senior pitcher Tristan Facer won both games he started and finished with a 3.00 ERA.

Track finishes indoor season

Sophomore middle-distance runner David Holm placed fourth in his subsection of the 800-meter run at the NCAA Last Chance Meet on March 7 at the University of Notre Dame.

Holm’s time of 1 minute, 50.78 seconds was his personal best and the second best time in Eastern history.

Sophomore distance runner Wes Sheldon placed 18th in the 800-meter run in 1:53.11, and senior distance runner Chris Sheldon finished 22nd in 1:54.30.

Junior distance runner Brad Butler placed 16th in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:36.73 missing the NCAA provisional mark by 35 seconds.

Junior jumper Jenna Uhe was the only member of the Eastern women’s track team to compete at the NCAA Last Chance Meet.

Uhe placed fourth in the long jump with a mark of 18’09.” Her jump was three inches shorter than her personal best set at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships.

Men’s golf finishes in top five

The Eastern men’s golf team finished fourth out of 11 teams at the Butler North-South Invitational on March 11-12 at the Jacksonville Golf Course in Jacksonville, Fla.

The team finished with a 19-over-par team score of 595 strokes.

Senior Matt Imburgia lead the Panthers with a 5-over-par 149 to finish 15th.

Freshman Francisco Cherizola finished in 18th place at 6-over-par.

Florida Golf Coast won the event with an 8-under-par team effort, 15 strokes better than second-place Jacksonville.

Women’s golf ties for sixth

The Eastern women’s golf team also competed at the Butler North-South Invitational on March 11-12 at the Jacksonville Golf Course in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Panthers tied for sixth place of 12 teams.

The Panthers finished with a combined team effort of 644, which was 23 strokes behind champion Evansville.

Junior Carrie Riordan finished seventh and while junior Michelle Anderson finished in 12th place.

The Eastern women’s golf team finished in eighth place at the Northern Illinois Invitational on March 8 in Springlake, Fla.

The Panthers were tied for third place after the first round, but shot 34 strokes worse on the second day to drop to a tie for eighth. Riordan finished in a tie for 18th (18-over-par) and junior Katie Imburgia finished in a tie for 20th (19-over-par).