The Eastern baseball team may have come off its best offensive performance all season, but it did not translate to Thursday evening.

The Panthers were on the road for the beginning of a three-game weekend series against Ohio Valley Conference foe Belmont, and a slow start made all the difference in a 10-1 loss.

Jake Haberer started things out on the mound for Eastern, but the Bruins took little time to jump on him as they scored five runs in the first three innings.

Haberer settled in for a bit following that, but it was not enough to salvage the start as he lasted five innings before being pulled.

Just three of Haberer’s runs were earned though as it was somewhat of a sloppy performance all around for the Panthers.

Eastern finished the game with three errors, while the Bruins kept things tight defensively with none.

Belmont really pulled away in the sixth, scoring six more runs to essentially seal Eastern’s fate.

That inning was costly, but there was still some bright spots in the bullpen as Devin Rose and Cole Berry combined to throw 2.2 scoreless innings for the Panthers.

It was a lackluster performance at the plate for the Panthers especially after scoring 18 runs just a few days ago.

Eastern mustered just four hits, two of which came from Jimmy Govern, in what evidently led to just one run scored in the ninth.

Govern was the lone bright spot for the Panthers once again as he extended his hitting streak to 13 games, and the other offense came from fellow junior college transfers.

Dougie Parks and Logan Beaman combined for Eastern’s other two hits, and Beaman’s was the one that brought Govern home in the final frame.

The loss drops the Panthers to 3-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference with two games remaining in the weekend series.

Game two begins Friday evening with first pitch at 4p.m., and Michael McCormick will take the ball on the mound for Eastern.

McCormick heads into the matchup with an 0-4 record and an ERA just under 6.00 on the season.

He is coming off a start in which he allowed four runs, two earned, in five innings pitched against a quality Southeast Missouri team.

Opposing McCormick on the other side for Belmont is Dylan King, a sophomore right-hander.

He has also been up and down this season as he comes in with a 2-4 record in 4.44 ERA.

The series wraps up Saturday afternoon for both teams, and following this weekend Eastern stays on the road for one more midweek matchup.

Maher Kawash can be reached at 581-2812 or mwkawash@eiu.edu