Eastern head softball coach Kim Schuette was pretty close when she said she had to use the entire dugout during Wednesday’s second game against Saint Louis.

Schuette used 14 of 15 players against the Billikens.

“We used everybody in our dugout,” Schuette said Wednesday. “The girls are fired up. The kids in the dugout were like caged animals.”

Eastern will need that fire this weekend when the Panthers get back to Ohio Valley Conference play.

Eastern (14-18, 7-4 OVC) plays first-place Jacksonville State with Saturday’s doubleheader scheduled for a 1 p.m. start in Jacksonville, Ala.

Schuette said she hasn’t seen that fire from her team in a long time.

She said she not only saw the fire from the entire team, but also from individual players.

One of those players was junior pitcher Kathleen Jacoby.

Although Jacoby is seventh all-time in Eastern victories (34) and third in strikeouts (305) in Eastern history, she’s struggled in the past two seasons.

Jacoby went 21-12 during her freshman year and earned all-conference honors. But since then she’s struggled. She’s 13-21 in the last two seasons.

“(Jacoby) wants the ball,” Schuette said. “She has the confidence. She’s not afraid. I’m so glad to see it.”

Jacoby said the intensity has helped her pitch through games where she was hurting.

“You forget about all the aches and pain,” Jacoby said.

Jacoby pitched 11 innings in two games on Tuesday and will be key to the series against JSU (26-12, 14-3) because she has been the most consistent – and healthy – Eastern pitcher the past two weeks.

Senior pitcher Ashley Robison is recovering from a twisted ankle suffered one week ago against Butler, and senior pitcher Karyn Mackie has only pitched 7 1/3 innings in her past three appearances.

Schuette said Eastern freshman pitcher Taylor Lawson is close to returning.

Lawson had hand surgery in mid-March to get rid of a blister that spread to the back of her hand.

“They’re going to each have their moment,” Schuette said.

Eastern’s pitching will be key against JSU, which leads the OVC with 52 home runs.

“We might walk them,” Schuette said. “We can walk if we need to.”

Eastern will counter with its small-ball tactics by stealing bases. Eastern sophomore Megan Nelson leads the team and the conference with 20 steals. She is also ranked 18th in the country in steals per game.

Nelson said Wednesday night’s win against Saint Louis motivated the team.

“It’s a good team win,” Nelson said. “It took all of us (that night), and it’ll take all of us this weekend.”

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

Sophomore Outfielder Denne’ Menzione practices catching fly balls in the sun at Williams Field on Thursday. (John Bailey/The Daily Eastern News)

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