The Eastern baseball team found its stride on a road trip to Memphis, pulling off a three-game sweep over the Tigers.

The Panthers got some solid pitching at the beginning of the series, with Alex Stevenson tossing 7.1 innings while notching three strikeouts and only allowing one run on eight hits in game one.

He was accompanied by a streaking Logan Beaman, who singled to right for an RBI, leading Eastern to the 3-1 victory to start the series.

That was just the start, as the Panthers got help from Jimmy Govern’s two hits and Hunter Morris knocking in a run on one hit at the plate.

Michael Starcevich was vital in game one, earning the save in the 1.2 innings pitched while racking up a strikeout and walking one hitter.

The Panthers have found themselves in some close games to start this season, and that continued in game two, where they barely escaped in a 10-9 victory thanks to a strong start offensively.

Eastern got started with four runs in the first inning as Jimmy Huber knocked in two runs on a single to right field.

The Panthers were also assisted by Jake Haberer, who bounced back from his first loss of the season last week, with his two strikeouts and no runs allowed in 1.2 innings pitched.

Matt Albert showed his dominance at the plate, knocking out his first home run of the year. Andrew Curran showed up as well, with two hits in three at-bats that resulted in one RBI and two walks.

Curran’s solid day gives him a .304 batting average on the year.

The Panthers have produced pretty well on the season, scoring six or more runs in three of the five games played so far.

That was seen in game three, but the real difference was pitching, as Carson Haws earned his first victory of the season.

Haws tossed 7.2 innings while earning four strikeouts and allowing just four runs, and Haberer followed that with three strikeouts in 1.1 innings of relief.

Joseph Duncan has been a catalyst offensively for Eastern in the last three seasons, and to start off his fourth season, it has been more of the same with a 3-for-5 appearance that resulted in three runs batted in for the Panthers.

Eastern improves to 4-2 on the season with the series sweep, while also grabbing a fourth straight win.

The Panthers now turn their focus to a single-game matchup on the road against Lindenwood Tuesday.

Following that, Eastern stays on the road for a three-game series against Georgia State next weekend.

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