Nothing went right for the Eastern baseball team this weekend as it dropped three straight to Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn.

The Panthers lost 4-0, 3-0 and 6-5, respectively.

The worst loss came Sunday as the Panthers opened up a 5-0 first inning lead. Golden Eagles junior pitcher Chason Choate walked senior right fielder Curt Restko and sophomore third baseman Zach Borenstein.

Sophomore left fielder Ben Thoma loaded the bases and senior first baseman Alex Gee had an RBI single. Senior designated hitter Richie Derbak and junior shortstop Cam Strang drove in runs, while freshman second baseman and sophomore catcher Gerik Wallsten finished the first with a 5-0 lead.

However, Eastern did not score the rest of the way.

In the fifth, Tennessee Tech scored on an RBI from senior first baseman Tate McMillan and junior center fielder Chad Oberacker off Eastern junior pitcher Josh Mueller.

The eighth had sophomore catcher Ben Burgess drive in a run off junior Brent McNeil to tighten the gap 5-3.

The Golden Eagles then took over in the ninth inning.

Against junior closer Dillon Roark (1-2), Tennessee Tech got freshman third baseman Zephan Guyear on and Dineen had a throwing error on a freshman left fielder Austin Wulf hit. McMillan had an RBI single.

Junior designated hitter A.J. Kirby-Jones was intentionally walked but Oberacker had a two RBI single for the walk-off 6-5 win.

“It was a (close) to being a double play,” Schmitz said. “Their big guy got a big hit.”

Saturday was not any better as the Panthers did not score a single run. Tennessee Tech senior pitcher Adam Liberatore (4-4) pitched nine innings of eight hit baseball

However, he had 12 strikeouts and only one walk in 123 pitches in the opening game.

Eastern junior pitcher Mike Recchia (3-4) gave up four runs and five hits in 7 1/3 innings. He fanned seven batters.

In game two, Golden Eagles’ senior pitcher Lee Henry (2-3) pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and nine strikeouts on 111 pitches.

Sophomore pitcher Mike Hoekstra (3-2) gave up three runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings of work.

“We were dominated with 21 strikeouts in 54 at bats,” Schmitz said. “We have been struggling all year. All our hitters are jumping or lunging into pitches. When you do that, you don’t get a good pitch to hit.”

These two games also saw four Eastern errors from Borenstein (2), Strang and freshman center fielder Daniel Rowe.

With the losses, the Panthers (9-25, 4-8 Ohio Valley Conference) fell to ninth in the league. Eastern will continue its season 6:35 p.m. Wednesday against Illinois (16-15, 4-5 Big Ten) at Mattoon’s Grimes Field.

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

Freshman second baseman Ryan Dineen records an out before throwing the relay for a double play. Dineen had one RBI during the weekend series against Tennessee Tech at Bush Stadium. (Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

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