The baseball team blew away the University of Tennessee-Martin Saturday in a 10-2 romp, but the Skyhawks came back in the second game for a 4-2 win.

The doubleheader gave Eastern its first opportunity to uncover Monier Field after nearly a week of inclimate weather and poor field conditions. Friday’s game was canceled, leaving the Panthers with only two games over the weekend.

Solid Skyhawk pitching was the answer Tennessee-Martin was looking for in the second game as Brad Meadows allowed just three hits in seven innings of work.

“Meadows pitched a nice game and did a nice job, so we didn’t score,” head coach Jim Schmitz said.

Solid pitching was backed up offensively as Tennessee-Martin posted two runs in the third inning. Eastern held on with two additional runs in the bottom of the third inning with Pete Pirman’s second home run of the day.

The game remained tied until Skyhawk Don Waller stepped up to the plate. With one out in the seventh inning and a teammate on first base, Waller made contact with Damon White’s pitch for a two-run homer, which would eventually be enough to win the game.

“We were in situations to score and then we make one bad pitch. That’s kinda been the story for us this year so far,” Schmitz said. “We either score big – win big – or we don’t win the game.”

Nick Albu stepped in to pitch for Tennessee-Martin’s final two batters, but Eastern had no answer in the final inning.

“We need to make some adjustments when guys are pitching well, and we don’t. We make the same swings,” Schmitz said.

Pirman led the way going 2-for-3 with two RBI, while Aaron Shelbourne went 1-for-1, but the heart of Eastern’s lineup went 0-13, including Ben Duke, who was ejected from the game in the sixth inning after a confrontation with the umpire.

“We didn’t come to score in the second game, so we weren’t going to let them get back in,” Schmitz said.

Pete Martin opened on the mound for the Panthers, pitching 3 and one-third innings before White relieved him.

“Damon did a great job in relief,” Schmitz said. “That’s really been the call. We’ve got Albu in the pen, but Damon is just really throwing well. He threw 3 and two-third innings of shutout ball and we seem to be making the wrong pitch.

“The move would be to go to Albu versus the lefty, but Damon’s been throwing so well, so he makes one bad pitch and they hit it out. That’s the difference in the game.”

But the 10-1 outcome of the first game would never lead the Panthers to think the outcome of the second game would be much different. The loss to Tennessee-Martin was the first since 1998.

“The first game, we put guys away. We kept hitting,” Duke said. “We got six runs, and we didn’t stop. We just got on them. This (second) game, we let them hang around and let them think they can play with us. That’s the difference. We didn’t have that killer attitude.”

Eastern jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning before exploding with six runs in the fourth.

Pirman hit Eastern’s first grand slam of the season, driving in Tim Aurrichio, Shelbourne and Chris Uhle, who all had hits previously. Kirk Walters followed Pirman’s performance with a home run, driving in Duke for an 8-0 lead.

“I thought they did fine,” Schmitz said. “That pitcher was not a good pitcher. The first guy throws high school speed, 80-some miles per hour.”

Tennessee-Martin’s T.J. Allen came into the game with a league best 2.16 ERA, but dropped to 3-4 after allowing 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings of work.

The Skyhawks put up their lone run in the fifth inning before Eastern continued its series of hits in the sixth. Duke hit a home run before Walters scored the 10th run for Eastern.

Scott Metz held off Tennessee-Martin throughout the game, allowing just four hits and one unearned run while striking out seven. Mets took his first win of the season, now 1-2.

“It felt good. My arms felt strong,” Metz said. “It always helps to have a pitcher stay up there to keep other pitchers for the different games.

“The last couple of years, Eastern Kentucky and Martin haven’t been very good, but they really surprised me,” Metz said. “The hitting is there.”

Eastern will face three non-conference opponents this year, starting Tuesday in a home contest against Illinois State.