As the weather heats up, so does the action on the baseball field for the Eastern baseball team.

The Panthers are entering the home stretch of the season this weekend, with a four-game home-and-away series at Ball State University.

Eastern is in its final bye-weekend from Ohio Valley Conference play.

“We really feel good about what’s been going on lately,” Panther head coach Jim Schmitz said. “We swung the bats really consistently.”

Schmitz said he has plenty of reason to believe the momentum for the Panthers’ recent offensive prowess will continue. He said he believes Wednesday’s rained-out home game against Indiana State didn’t stop the momentum that carried Eastern to wins in three of its last four games.

The game at Coaches’ Stadium was canceled after lightning struck in the top of the first. Panther starting pitcher Andy Kuntz had only thrown 12 pitches and had a runner on first base with no one out.

After the Ball State series, nine out of the Panthers’ final 13 games come against OVC foes – all but three of those league games are at home.

But Schmitz said he’s approaching this weekend’s series as if it were against an OVC opponent.

It certainly won’t be a cakewalk.

The Panthers will go up against Ball State’s junior one-two punch of pitchers Bryan Bullington and Luke Hagerty.

Bullington, who will start Saturday’s first game in Muncie, Ind., brings a 7-2 record and a 2.22 ERA in eight starts. Hagerty, a southpaw, throws in Game 2. He has thrown in nine games with a 6-1 record a 2.26 ERA. They are both draft prospects.

The Panthers (15-18) counter with seniors Scott Metz and Pete Martin. Metz (2-2, 4.42) takes the mound in Game 1 and Martin (3-2, 4.15) throws in Game 2.

Eastern senior right fielder Pete Pirman has the best chance at putting a dent in Ball State’s pitching armor.

The right-handed leadoff man earned Co-OVC “Offensive Player of the Week” honors for the second time this season and pushed his batting average to .407 – the team’s best. Pirman also has 29 RBI and 33 runs, which are also team-highs.

“There was a weekend at the beginning of the year where we really harped on him for not taking pitches,” Schmitz said. “He’s turned it around since then and he’s really been consistent. In fact, I asked him the other day if he wanted to swing at the first pitch, but he said, ‘no, I don’t mind taking it.'”

Eastern is without junior left fielder Danny Jordan, who has a wrist injury, the severity of it is unknown. Schmitz said he would know how long Jordan would be out after this weekend.

Sophomore Marcus Jackson will take his spot in the lineup.

Junior Micah Gray (1-3, 7.18) pitches in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader and senior Nick Albu (2-3, 3.65) throws his second start of the season in Game 2.

The Cardinals will counter with Patrick Lowrey (4-4, 3.10) and Brian Lynch (2-3, 4.24).