Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz has seen it all this season in how his baseball team loses games. Blown saves, poor hitting, fielding gaffes that have been plaguing the Panthers the whole season.

Schmitz and his crew, though, are not throwing in the towel as they open play Ohio Valley Conference opponent Murray State beginning 1 p.m. Saturday at Murray, Ky.

This past week has been rough for Eastern (9-26, 4-8 OVC), as it has been on a five-game losing streak, the third losing streak five-games or longer this year.

However, the coach wants his team to begin overcoming its shortcomings to salvage this season beginning with the Racers (19-17, 6-3 OVC).

“We are talking about something really important in making something out of this season,” Schmitz said. “Obviously, it’s not a very good start; we’re past the midway point. At this particular point, it does become a pride factor. Enough is enough. We still have half the conference games left.”

With only 12 conference games remaining on the schedule, Schmitz said his team has to win each series to hopefully make the OVC Tournament. Right now, the Panthers are tied for eighth place in the league standings and need to climb to sixth to make the postseason.

Tennessee Tech is 1.5 games ahead, but the Golden Eagles hold the tiebreaker by sweeping Eastern last weekend.

Hitting will be needed for Eastern to win games, Schmitz said, as his squad is hitting .266, last in the OVC.

“That whole process of turning it around takes a whole lot of energy,” Schmitz said. “The only way we could do this, I believe, is if we start hitting. If we don’t start hitting, it really doesn’t matter. It’s just like football and basketball, if you don’t score, it puts pressure on everything.”

The Racers have a .320 team batting average and have scored 309 runs, while Eastern has mustered only 174 runs, again a league worst.

Murray State’s top player is offensive powerhouse senior first baseman Wes Cunningham. The Louisville, Ky. native is second in the OVC in runs scored (55) tied for fourth in home runs (14), fourth in RBIs (49) and fifth in batting average (.422).

Saturday will be a doubleheader, with the series finale slated to start 1 p.m. Sunday.

Junior pitcher Mike Recchia (3-4, 4.61 ERA) will start game one, while sophomore pitcher Mike Hoekstra (3-2, 2.95 ERA) will take game two. Junior ace Josh Mueller (0-1, 4.11 ERA) will close out the series.

Despite his hitters’ struggles, Schmitz has confidence in his starting pitchers because of their strong performance during the Tennessee Tech series.

“They all pitched really, really well and we feel good about them,” Schmitz said.

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

Junior shortstop Cam Strang rounds the bases and heads for home plate Wednesday evening during the game against the University of Illinois Champaign at Grimes Field in Mattoon. Strang had one hit and one run. (Audrey Sawyer / The Daily Eastern News)

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