The Eastern baseball team heads into its weekend series against the Memphis Tigers on a 10-game losing streak.

Eastern coach Jim Schmitz is keeping his players positive as much as much as possible, despite the losing streak.

“I thought defensively a lot of people made some good plays and the right decisions,” he said. “As a coach, you want to stay positive, you want to be optimistic and keep confidence. Although the players on the team know certain areas we have to shore up. (Wednesday) was a really positive sign.”

The Panthers lost to St. Louis Wednesday 13-12 in 10 innings after rallying back from six runs down to eventually tie the game in the 9^th inning.

Eastern scored six runs in the last three innings, and Panther coach Jimmy Schmitz said Thursday’s game was a confidence booster.

“At Austin Peay we didn’t really try to get back in the game,” he said. “When you are down you can’t do anything but take pitcher, try to walk and get yourself back in the game. It was nice weather. Once you start hitting the ball, you are going to feel a little better.”

Eastern senior third baseman Brant Valach hit three home runs in his last four games, including one late in the game on Thursday.

Valach raised his average to .313 and now has eight runs batted in on the season with two doubles.

Schmitz said Valach understands what his role is on the team.

“Early in that count he is taking big swings and trying to produce runs,” he said. “He is still feeling his way around. We need those middle of the lineup guys to not be timid. When you are not hitting well, that is what is going to happen.”

Eastern is also getting contributions from junior catcher Jason Scholl, who is second on the team with a .267 average in 15 at-bats.

Memphis comes into this series with a 6-4 overall record and is led by freshman pitcher Connor Alexander.

Alexander has 1.62 earned-run average in four appearances on the mound this season. He has struck out 14 batters through 16.2 innings pitched.

Senior infielder Tucker Tubbs leads the Tigers with a .342 batting average with three doubles, one homerun and eight RBIs. Red-shirt junior infielder Jake Overbey is second on Memphis with a .333 average and four RBIs on the season.

The Tigers are have won three of their last four games, which included a 2-game series sweep against Middle Tennessee State.

Schmitz said one of the keys to getting a series win against Memphis to just focus on the positives.

“You just keep battling and that one win start a rollercoaster and snowballing into two,” he said. “Confidence comes from getting things done. (Thursday) I think was a good start and we will see if we can carry it over to Spring Break.”

The Panthers and Tigers will get underway Saturday at 1 pm in Memphis, Tenn. at FedEx Park.

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or rjreynolds@eiu.edu.