The Eastern softball team comes home for the first time in its 2010 campaign, following a 19-game road schedule that left it with an 8-11 record.

The Panthers locked up two big wins this weekend against the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions, Jacksonville State (9-11, 0-2 OVC), to begin their conference play.

Today, Eastern will look to build off its weekend success in a doubleheader against Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis (4-16) at 4 p.m. at Williams Field.

“We realized what it is like to win and how much it sucks to lose,” said junior pitcher Amber May. “With that win, we want to be done losing. We know we can beat teams if we play our game.”

May had a stellar weekend against the Gamecocks, finishing the doubleheader with a 0.81 ERA, eight strikeouts and a complete game win.

May’s performance was one highlight that weekend, Eastern head coach Kim Schuette said, but another pitcher also impressed her.

“(Freshman Natalie) Wunderlich is coming off a good performance,” Schuette said. “She wasn’t just hitting a spot; she was making the ball move to that spot.”

Wunderlich pitched the doubleheader’s nightcap, pitching 5.1 innings and striking out two batters.

Senior right fielder Denee’ Menzione is riding a hot bat into today’s game, having batted .500 over the weekend and .405 in 18 games this season.

For Menzione, she expects today’s game to be much more welcoming than the team’s previous 19 games.

“It’s nice to have fans cheering for us and not against us,” Menzione said.

Schuette said she has liked the team’s performance during spring break and said she hopes to keep the good trends going, especially after the wins.

“Everything is better when you win – the food tastes better, the day feels better, the drive is shorter,” Schuette said.

However, Schuette and the Panthers remain focused on their normal mindset, taking it one game at a time. So, the two wins over the Gamecocks are done with.

“We have a lot to do because those were only two wins, they don’t count as 20 wins,” Schuette said.

The Panthers will look to solidify a home-field advantage against IUPUI, the first two games of a six game home stand.

“We want to make sure we have a home-field advantage,” Schuette said.

“We’re trying to get the infielders and outfielders a lot of ground balls and fly balls so that they can get used to it.”

The Panthers will play without sophomore left fielder Maria Sorrentino, who was hit in the jaw during her first at-bat Saturday against the Gamecocks.

Schuette said she will have a long recovery but is confident in Sorrentino because she is tough.

She had surgery on her jaw Monday.

“She has nine stitches,” Schuette said. “She fractured one side (of her jaw) and broke the other.”

The doubleheader is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. at Williams Field.

The second game is slated to begin at 6 p.m.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7944 or admcnamee@eiu.edu.