After winning three straight games, the Panthers baseball team dropped three in a row to Ohio Valley Conference opponent Tennessee Tech.

In the first game, the Panthers started hot out the gates early and scored first in the second inning as sophomore Jimmy Govern doubled and junior Dougie Parks drove him in with the RBI base hit. The Golden Eagles would tie it up in the in the bottom of the second.

The Panthers opened scored two in the fifth off an RBI single from junior Logan Beaman scoring junior Joe Duncan. Beaman would move to second after a walk and junior Matt Albert would single in Beaman. The lead would not hold as the Golden Eagles would open up the flood gates on the Panther pitching and score three.

Redshirt junior Jake Haberer would walk two in a row and Tennessee Tech would score on an RBI single. Wild pitches would also let up another run and another base hit would earn the third run of the inning.

Tennessee Tech would take the lead 4-3 and would add another run in the eighth, winning 5-3. Haberer would take the loss going five innings and giving up four runs.

In game two of the series, it would be another case of the Panthers coming back to end up losing the tie.

Eastern started the game with a two-run homerun by Parks. The Golden Eagles responded with an RBI double by Trevor Putzig after a single from Alex Junior. Chase Chambers would then hit a three-run homerun to give the Golden Eagles a 4-2 lead after one.

The Panthers answered right back with one run from a single by redshirt junior Justin Smith to cut the lead 4-3. The Panthers would tie it in the fifth with a sacrifice from Parks.

The Golden Eagles would take control of the game by scoring in the next three innings. The Panthers would end up losing 11-4. Senior Michael McCormick got the loss, going six innings and allowing 6 runs but only four of those were earned.

In game three, it was another game where both teams fought for the lead.

Albert would start things off in the second for the Panthers, hitting his ninth homerun on the year. Smith would knock in a run on a sacrifice fly to give the Panthers the earl 2-0 lead.

In the third inning, Eastern would get runners in scoring position and Parks would end up knocking in both of those runners to increase the lead 4-1. Tennessee Tech would come back in the bottom half of the inning scoring three to tie it at four a piece.

In the top of the fifth, Beaman walked on six pitches, Parks would advance Beaman on a single and Albert would hit his second homerun of the game. Giving the Panthers a 7-4 lead.

The Golden Eagles would however answer back again with four-run inning highlighted by a three-run homerun by Chambers.

The Panthers came back with an RBI double from Jimmy Govern. Govern would score from an RBI double by Beaman to take a 9-8 lead. In the bottom half of the sixth inning, the Golden Eagles came right back and hit a two-run homerun by Trevor Putzig.

The Golden Eagles would hold onto that lead and add three more runs in the bottom of the eighth. The Panthers would lose 13-9.

The loss puts the Panthers at an overall record of 5-22 (2-7) while the Golden Eagles remain undefeated in OVC play

Tyler McCluskey can be reached at 581-2812 or at trmccluskey@eiu.edu