Eastern junior centerfielder Angela Danca may be out for a long time.

“It’s kind of all up in the air right now,” Eastern senior pitcher Karyn Mackie said. “She can’t catch. She just needs to heal.”

Danca dislocated her left thumb on March 2 against Jackson State.

Eastern head coach Kim Schuette said the junior centerfielder dislocated her thumb when she tried to slide into second base.

“I was stealing second and the ball came across and she flipped me,” Danca said. “I must have come down on my hand. She cleated me. It happened so fast I can’t remember.”

Danca was the team’s leading hitter at the Tennessee-Chattanooga Frost Classic this season. Danca went 6-for-11 with four runs and four stolen bases.

Danca is the team’s second-leading hitter with a .348 batting average.

Jacoby listed as day-to-day

Kathleen Jacoby has been missing a lot of games lately.

The junior pitcher had the flu and has not pitched since March 11 against Florida International.

She missed the Panthers’ first Ohio Valley Conference series of the season against Tennessee State.

“Jacoby was sick the whole weekend,” Schuette said. “Her (status) is kind of day-to-day right now.”

That leaves Eastern with two healthy starting pitchers – seniors Mackie and Ashley Robison. Freshman pitcher Taylor Lawson could be the third starter, but will most likely be a reliever this season.

“Karyn and Ashley are doing well,” Schuette said. “They can’t put too much pressure on themselves. They just have to go out there and make (opponents) hit their best pitch. They can’t do it all by themselves, and that’s what they have to remember.”

Mackie said she understands what is expected of her.

“We know we have to step it up,” Mackie said. “We don’t have as much back up. (Jacoby) will hopefully be back by this weekend.”

Jacoby, more predominantly a power pitcher than Mackie, struggled her sophomore year and finished with a 9-15 record. This season, she looks to repeat the efforts of her freshman season when she compiled a 21-12 record, which the most wins by an Eastern pitcher since 1988.

She also had a 2.36 ERA, 140 strikeouts and earned Second Team All-OVC honors her freshman year.

Starting conference on a good note

The Panthers won two of three games last weekend against Tennessee State.

Eastern won 2-1, 3-2 and lost 5-2 in Nashville, Tenn.

“We fought,” Schuette said. “We battled our way to come with two wins. I was pleased with the fight and the scratch and the claw to get a victory.”

The Panthers won their first two conference games for the first time since the 2006 season.

Eastern won two of three conference games at Tennessee-Martin and at Morehead State that year. The Panthers finished third in the OVC and made the OVC tournament.

Last season, the Panthers were swept by Tennessee Tech and lost two of three games against Samford to start OVC play.

Tennessee State battles in close games

In the past three seasons, Eastern has won six of nine games against Tennessee State and all have been close.

Eastern won 2-1, 3-2 and lost 5-2 in Nashville this season.

Last season, Eastern won 1-0, 4-3 and lost 3-1 at Williams Field. In the 2006 season, Eastern won 3-2 twice and lost 7-0 in Nashville.

Schuette said TSU pitcher Amanda Vaught is the reason the games have been close.

“Amanda Vaught is a good pitcher for them,” Schuette said. “She has a good curveball that kids have trouble hitting. That was evident with us. Both teams were scrappy this weekend with trying to scratch runs in any possible way.”

Vaught had a 1.29 ERA last season and finished 16-9.

Menzione hits the long ball

Eastern sophomore left fielder Denee’ Menzione leads Eastern with four home runs, which is the same number she had all last season.

Her eight career home runs places her sixth all-time in Eastern career history and ties her for ninth-place on the single-season list.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or at kjmurphy@eiu.edu.

Junior outfielder, Angela Danca, fields the ball with her right hand because of her injured thumb during practice on Wednesday afternoon in O’Brien Stadium. (John Bailey / The Daily Eastern News)

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