Eastern baseball head coach Jim Schmitz has been preparing his team for this season since June 1.

That was the day the Panthers returned home from being eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, and Schmitz said the preparation for this season – and the expectations that come with it – began.

“We knew our expectations would be high, and I have no problem saying they’re high,” the 15th-year skipper said.

The expectations are, indeed, high for this year’s Panthers squad. After winning four games in four days against four different teams in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament a year ago, the Panthers have been picked to finish second in the OVC this season, just behind conference-favorite Jacksonville State.

Likewise, Eastern boasts the OVC’s Preseason Player of the Year with senior center fielder Brett Nommensen.

Nommensen was a First Team All-OVC performer a year ago and was a member of the NCAA Lincoln Regional All-Tournament Team. He hit .402 a year ago, including .557 during the month of May in which he was an integral part of the Panthers’ push toward the NCAA Tournament.

But while Schmitz understands the risks that come with having such high expectations, he is confident his team will not let those expectations go to their heads.

“To experience what we did last year was very exciting for these guys,” Schmitz said. “But I showed them that no team in the OVC has repeated to the NCAA Tournament since 1994, and it showed them how hard it is to get back. We laid it all on the board on June 1.”

Along with Nommensen, the Panthers boast three returning starters in their pitching staff, including sophomore Josh Mueller. Mueller led Eastern in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts a year ago and was named to the OVC All-Freshman Team. He finished the season second in strikeouts, third in batting average against, seventh in wins and 10th in earned run average.

Junior Richie Derbak, the team’s starting catcher a year ago after pitching his freshman year, will rotate back to pitching this year as red-shirt freshman Ben Thoma will take over the catching duties.

Schmitz said what Derbak did for the Panthers a year ago was incredible, considering he had never caught before in his life entering the season.

“(Derbak) is more valuable to have him pitch, and we have more flexibility with him there,” Schmitz said. “Considering he never caught before, it’s hard to explain to people how unbelievable it was for him to do that.”

The Panthers open their season this weekend as they travel to Hammond, La., for a series against Southeastern Louisiana. They will play the entire first month of the season on the road, mostly in warm, southern locations. Their first home game will be on March 25 against Illinois State.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.

Breakout: Possible starting lineup

1. Brett Nommensen CF

2. Jordan Tokarz – 2B

3. Zach Skidmore – 3B

4. Jordan Kreke – SS

5. Richie Derbak – DH

6. Alex Gee – 1B

7. Ryan Lindquist – RF

8. Curt Restko – LF

9. Ben Thoma – C

Pitching Rotation – Josh Mueller, Tyler Kehrer, Mike Recchia.

Baseball head coach Jim Schmitz watches junior infielder Alex Gee during batting practice on Wednesday afternoon in Lantz Fieldhouse. (Erin Matheny/The Daily Eastern News)

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