The Eastern softball team will continue their conference schedule when they host doubleheaders against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State this weekend.

The games were initially scheduled to be played on Friday and Saturday but due to the inclement weather Thursday and Friday the games were pushed back a day.

Head coach Angie Nicholson said the rescheduling will not have any affect on the team but it does give the players that were injured last weekend more time to heal.

The Panthers currently sit at a 5-5 record in Ohio Valley Conference play and have a 10-16 overall record.

The Panthers will take on Tennessee Tech on Saturday in a doubleheader.

Tennessee Tech comes in with a 6-4 conference record that has them just ahead of the Panthers in the standings.

“(Tennessee Tech) hits the ball well,” Nicholson said.  “We have to be prepared for the ball to be put into play.”

Nicholson said the Panthers have had a roller coaster ride of a season and really look to start the weekend off with wins.

“It would be huge to start off with wins,” she said. “This team has really been riding the roller coaster of highs and lows and if we can start seeing some more highs that would be great.”

Freshman Michelle Rogers the starting pitcher for the Panthers in game one. Rogers has a 3.91 ERA in 77 innings pitched this season.

Rogers pitched nine innings and gave up four runs last weekend in three games against Murray State. She looks to carry that success over to this weekend.

Rogers said she will have to work just as hard as last weekend and focus on spinning the ball and hitting her spots.

She said that the team has her back and just focus on what she has to do.

On Sunday, the Panthers will be taking on Jacksonville State in another doubleheader.

Jacksonville being the top team in the conference with a 7-0 conference record, the Panthers will not approach the game any differently.

“We will just go out there like it is any other game,” junior April Markowski said. “We’ve got to go out there fighting for the ‘W’.”

Nicholson also said that it’s just another team and another game.

“It’s us that we have to reach at the end of the day,” she said. “We have to take care of business.”

Both Nicholson and Markowski know that improving their hitting and putting runners across the plate. They said having timely hitting will be key in getting wins this weekend.

Game one on Saturday will start at 1 p.m., and game two will follow at 3 p.m. Sunday’s contests against Jacksonville State will start at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Sean Hastings can be reached at 581-2812 or smhastings@eiu.edu.