The Eastern baseball and softball teams’ have been fortunate to have freshman contribute to each team their first year at Eastern.

Most notably the Eastern softball team has had two freshman pitchers Jessica Wireman and Michelle Rogers start all but one of the Panthers game this season.

Wireman most recently threw a no-hitter in a game against Tennessee-Martin, which was the first of her career.

She has a 3.82 earned run average on the season and a 10-11 record overall in 132 innings pitched.

Michelle Rogers has started 22 games for the Panthers this season and is 7-12 with a 4.34 ERA in 109.2 innings pitched.

Wireman was recruited out of Louisville, Kentucky where she earned All-State honors in high school and was a finalist for Kentucky Player of the Year.

Her original plan was to go to Cleveland State and play for coach Angie Nicholson, but she changed her mind to come to Eastern, when Nicholson was hired here before the beginning of last season.

Rogers on the was recruited to play at Eastern from Scecina Memorial High School in Indianapolis, Ind. She earned a starting pitching spot on the varsity team in high school as a freshman.

The Eastern baseball team has had a multitude of freshman get good amounts of playing time this season, most notably freshman pitcher Andy Fisher.

Fisher had to come out of the bullpen at the start of the season but was most recently named a starter.

He is 1-3 this season in 19 appearances with 36.1 innings pitched. Fisher will start Sunday for the Panthers against Morehead State.

Bobby Wenthe is another Panther who has come on strong most recently. Wenthe was named co-Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week a couple weeks ago.

He is now hitting .333 on the season with six home runs in 60 at-bats. Also, Wenthe has 20 runs batted in and has a slugging percentage of .700.

Eastern baseball coach Jimmy Schmitz said he has been really impressed with the way his freshman have stepped up this season.

“We knew it when we had it,” he said. “There is a bright future with a good class ahead of us.”

Also, freshman pitcher Luke Dietz leads the team in ERA with a 3.29 this season in 12 appearances. He also has one save.

With these freshmen making an immediate impact, the Eastern baseball and softball teams look to have a bright future.

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