Eastern’s baseball team opens up its home schedule today as they host Chicago State at 2 p.m. in Coaches’ Stadium.

The Panthers are coming off a weekend in which they took two games out of three from the University of Memphis.

Head coach Jim Schmitz said he was pleased with how the team kept fighting throughout their three games with Memphis, especially coming off four losses earlier in the week.

“You’ve got to feel good, especially coming off four hard losses, two of them in particular not very pretty,” said Schmitz. “We felt really good about going in there with a game plan and they stuck to the game plan and came away with two wins.”

Schmitz said one strength of his team is through their pre-conference schedule has been their resiliency and ability to remain focused on the game even when they fall behind.

“It’s one thing this team’s done really well,” said Schmitz. “Even when have put a big number on the board we come in and it’s no big deal, we go back out. This team does a pretty good job of not getting too flustered.”

Schmitz said his biggest disappointment with his offense has been the amount of strikeouts they’ve had.

“You should have one per ten at-bats, there’s only two or three guys who are doing that,” Schmitz said. “At this particular point, it’s nothing to be said other than it’s a huge sore spot that needs to be corrected, and the only way to do that is to hack away and get on base.”

Schmitz said over the weekend he was pleased with how red-shirt junior Mike Hoekstra pitched against Memphis. Hoekstra was named Ohio Valley Conference pitcher of the week for his complete game performance in Memphis where he walked none while striking out five and allowing only one run.

“Pitching overall has been very good,” said Schmitz. “I know we’ve had some guys that have not gone out and done a great job, but it’s great knowing we have him (Hoekstra) to start game one. I told the team we just can’t count on him to go out there all the time and throw a shutout or only allow one run, seasons are up and down. I’m more concerned about the 24 other people besides him.”

Schmitz said sophomore right-handed pitcher Troy Barton and freshman left-hander Christian Slazinik will start the mid-week home games in an effort to get them back on the horse after having rough outings in Memphis.

Games begin today and tomorrow at 2 p.m. against Chicago State and Southern Illinois, respectively. The Panthers then begin their OVC schedule Saturday at home at 1 p.m. against Eastern Kentucky.

Brad Kupiec can be reached at 581-7944 or bmkupiec@eiu.edu

Mike Hoekstra, red-shirt junior pitcher, looks to throw the ball to second base during the game against Morehead State April 11, 2010. Hoekstra was named the adidasr OVC Pitcher of the Weekend. (File Photo)

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