Red-shirt junior Christian Slazinik’s 28th pitch against Jacksonville State in the top of the second inning was his last for the Eastern baseball left-hander Sunday at Coaches Stadium.

Eastern’s 8-6 loss to Jacksonville State had an injured hamstring toppled on top of it.

After delivering a called ball to right-handed hitter Gavin Golsan, Slazinik fell to the ground, grimacing in pain.

Eastern coach Jim Schmitz quickly raced toward Slazinik – a second later the team trainer Brandon Platt joined a throng of Panthers surrounding their injured teammate a couple of feet in front of the pitcher’s mound.

“He snapped his hamstring,” Schmitz said. “I hope he’s OK. I’m definitely really concerned about him.”

Leading 4-1, Schmitz had to make a quick decision, as Pratt and a teammate were helping Slazinik back to the Eastern dugout.

Senior Ben Kennedy made his 14th appearance out of Eastern’s bullpen and held down the fort for the Panthers’ pitching staff that allowed 31 runs in the first two games of the series.

The lefty tossed 2.1 innings, allowing one run after coming in to replace Slazinik.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, Kennedy’s departure after the fourth inning opened up the door for the Jacksonville State offense.

Tyler Gamble was not even penciled in to the Gamecocks’ lineup for the series finale, but after Daniel Gaither experienced an injury in pregame warm-ups, Jacksonville State coach Jim Case was forced to alter his lineup.

Gamble took full advantage of the opportunity and went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, which included a solo-home run to left-center field in the top of the second inning off of Slazinik – Gamble was the batter before Slazinik injured himself.

The Gamecocks were down 6-5, heading into the top of the sixth inning, when Michael Bishop lined a ball down the right-field line that scored Golsan, who was at second base after being hit by a pitch and then stealing second.

Golsan stole a base in each game of the three-game series against the Panthers, which did not make Schmitz happy.

“We just let them steal – Golsan, the fastest guy in America is on and we’re not even going to throw over and we let him steal,” Schmitz said.

As a whole the Gamecocks recorded 11 stolen bases in the weekend.

Jacksonville State took the lead with a fielder’s choice groundout, hit by Griff Gordon that scored Bishop from third base.

Senior Joe Greenfield pitched 2.1 innings and allowed two runs to Jacksonville State, taking his second straight loss in as many days for the Panthers.

In his two outings against the Gamecocks, Greenfield allowed seven runs, (three earned) which included not getting an out Saturday, when five runs were charged to the righty.

Schmitz said Greenfield has not been living up to the status of being drafted twice by two different Major League Baseball teams.

“He hasn’t earned it, he hasn’t been good since the beginning of the year,” Schmitz said. “I can’t coat it anymore, there’s nothing else to coat. I mean, you’re a 30th round draft pick and look at his ERA and hits per inning.”

Greenfield has made 15 appearances this season and has a 6.28 ERA, allowing 43 hits in 28.2 innings. The Boston Red Sox drafted him in the 22nd round in 2012 and the Minnesota Twins selected the senior in the 36th round in 2013.

Eastern had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Panthers had the bases loaded with one out and Brant Valach at the plate.

Jacksonville State closer Travis Stout closed the door on Eastern, making Valach foul out and then striking out Jason Scholl to end the threat.

Stout pitched the ninth inning, allowing a single, but no more as he collected his ninth save of the season.

The Panthers did have Valach make his return to the Eastern lineup Friday, coming back from a hand injured suffered after being hit by a pitch against Arkansas on Feb. 21.

Valach had two RBI-singles in his first two plate appearances Sunday. His second run driven in came in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Jacob Reese scored, giving the Panthers a 6-2 lead.

The four-run advantage matched Eastern’s biggest lead of the afternoon, following a four-run bottom of the first inning for the Panthers.

The Gamecocks’ sweep of Eastern was their first ever at Coaches Stadium since they joined the Ohio Valley Conference in 2003.

The Panthers are now 7-20 overall and 2-7 in the OVC, while Jacksonville State improved to 9-3 in conference and 17-10 overall.

Schmitz said the injury to Slazinik has greater implications to an already depleted bullpen.

“We have a lot of depth issues and now not having him is definitely harder right now,” he said.

Last year, Slazinik made one pitch all season, which came in his first start against Jackson State on Feb. 17, 2013.

Currently sitting near the bottom of the OVC standings, Schmitz said, immediate alterations have to be made.

“I’m in charge of everything, I’m in charge of everything, so I’ll take full responsibility, we’ll kind of make some changes tomorrow I told them and go on from there,” he said. “We’re not a good baseball team right now.”

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or asoto2@eiu.edu.