Spring break was not too kind to the Panthers as they went 2-5 on the baseball diamond.

Eastern won its first two games (7-6, 11-9) against South Florida, who was predicted to finish second in the Big East. However, the Panthers lost 8-5 the following game.

Eastern then lost consecutive games to Army (13-6), Akron (6-1), Indiana (9-6) and No. 27 Ohio State (7-6), making head coach Jim Schmitz’s squad 3-14.

“We were pretty excited with two wins in South Florida and didn’t follow up with any good games,” Schmitz said. “We definitely know we have a lot of work to do and only have a few days to the opening (Ohio Valley Conference) series. It showed some of our weaknesses and hopefully we can correct it.”

The skipper said his players are not confident or ready to play. He said part of the reason for the slow start is his team is pressing.

“We’re trying to do too much and we’re swinging for the fences,” Schmitz said. “These are the new stars and the people who are going to carry us, and so they are trying way too hard to carry us instead of doing what they normally can do. And that’s resulted in some really poor swings and that’s where the confidence goes down.”

For example, sophomore third baseman Zach Borenstein was the No. 3 hitter, but he moved senior first baseman/pitcher Richie Derbak to the power slot.

Schmitz said Borenstein was trying to hit home runs, so he moved Borenstein to lead-off hitter and he hit a home run against Ohio State.

Sophomore left fielder Ben Thoma had a solid spring trip, having seven hits in 27 at bats but two homers and 9 RBIs.

“Obviously, I was seeing the ball well the first couple of games, but it’s kind of hard to worry about my individual success when the team is kind of struggling,” Thoma said. “I was kind of happy with my performance because I struggled with runs and RBIs, but I’m seeing the ball better.”

The Panthers will open their home schedule at 3 p.m. today against Chicago State at Coaches Stadium with junior pitcher Brent McNeil (0-2, 8.44 ERA) starting. The Cougars are 1-7.

Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7944 or rtbajek@eiu.edu.

Junior infielder Cam Strang takes batting practice Monday afternoon in Lantz Fieldhouse.(Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News)

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