A friend of my friends was in the computer lab Wednesday when the power went out. He was sitting near another student who had been frantically typing a five-page paper that was due the next hour.

When the power came back on the student’s paper was gone – he hadn’t saved it.

Given his recent experience, that student could probably empathize with Jim Schmitz, Eastern’s head baseball coach. The Panthers gave up seven runs in the ninth inning Wednesday, handing the visiting Boilermakers a 12-10 victory.

Eastern entered the final frame ahead 8-5, but three Panther pitchers couldn’t save the game. Much like five-page papers, it’s tough losing games against Big Ten teams.

Wednesday’s defeat at the hands of Purdue was the second Big Ten loss in two days, the Panthers lost to the Fighting Illini in an error-filled contest at Coaches’ Stadium Tuesday.

As brutal as Tuesday’s loss may have been (five errors and four baserunning blunders), Wednesday’s loss had to hurt more. Seeing eight innings of work disappear in the ninth is a painful thing.

That’s why the Panther’s must now search for a closer – the baseball equivalent of a bouncer – someone who can get everyone out so the staff can go home.

As Wednesday’s contest proved, the final three outs are often the most difficult of any ballgame. The Panther’s got out to an early lead, but the Boilermakers were resilient, tying the game at five in the sixth and going ahead in the ninth.

Perhaps the Boilermakers garnered it’s strength from a team lunch purchased at a local grocer. I saw a Purdue coach with a player buying the makings of a picnic lunch at Save-A-Lot (incidentally something Panther pitchers have been unable to do).

The coach was telling the young lady working the checkout that a local sandwich shop had denied the team’s order of almost 30 subs. I’m not sure if he wanted the subs so fast the restaurant manager freaked or if some sandwich artists didn’t want to rush the masterpieces, but for whatever reason the Boilermaker bus headed for Save-A-Lot.

The cold cuts they acquired must have provided ample sustenance and may have even helped spark the last-inning offensive surge.

A change in pregame meals might not end the Panther’s pitching woes, but I imagine they’re willing to try just about anything.