The Eastern had a chance to rebound against non-conference opponent Illinois Wednesday, but it lost its fourth straight game.

Win or lose, it was not going to hurt Eastern in the OVC standings, but losing the lead late again was not part of the plan.

But this weekend, with four OVC games scheduled, rebounding is a must. The Panthers have a pair of road doubleheaders against Murray State and Austin Peay.

Having dropped six out of their last eight, the Panthers dropped to 8-6 overall and sixth place in the OVC standings. They were the No. 1 team in the conference starting 6-0, but Eastern Kentucky has seven in a row to push its record to 11-1 and take over the top spot in the conference.

Jacksonville State, which beat Eastern twice last weekend, is in second with a 13-3 record.

And Eastern’s second opponent of the weekend, Austin Peay, is 10-4 and third in the OVC.

The Panthers will be tested with this year’s OVC win leader, Morgan Rackel.

She leads the OVC with 16 wins and is third in the OVC with a 1.61 ERA and is just behind senior Jessica Wireman in strikeouts with 163.

Murray State, however, has not had the same luck as the Governors as it is 6-10 this season.

The Racers also have not had the same success pitching that the Governors have had. Haven Cambell is the Racers’ No. 1 pitcher with a 2.89 ERA and 116.1 innings pitched.

Cambell has pieced together a 9-9 record and 67 strikeouts.

There are two weekends left of the OVC regular season before the OVC Tournament, where the top eight teams make it.

First pitches for games are set for 1 and 3 p.m. for both days.

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