Eastern picked up its first victory of the season during its weekend tournament at the University of Alabama-Birminghamn.

The Panthers’ (1-4) win came between a pair of losses in Birmingham, Ala., to Alabama-Birmingham (11-0) and Marshall (3-5).

The Panthers (1-4) opened up the weekend Friday with a 10-4 to Alabama-Birmingham behind a career-high 12-strikeout performance from Blazers senior pitcher Lucas Trotter.

The entire Alabama-Birmingham pitching staff combined to strike out 17 Panthers and allowed only three hits.

Trotter pitched six innings of one-hit ball before allowing Rusty McIntyre to finish off the game with a 9-0 lead.

“I thought Lucas gave us a great performance,” Alabama-Birmingham head coach Larry Giangrosso said. “Every game it seems like it’s a different guy stepping up.”

The Blazers continue to have their best start in school history and tied the best start in Conference USA history.

One bright spot for the Panthers was senior designated hitter Bret Pignatiello’s three-run homer in the eighth inning for the final runs of the game.

“We really threw the ball around like some t-ball kids,” Panther head coach Jim Schmitz said.

The situation looked grim in the second game Saturday after junior Kentucky center fielder Casey Gilvin hit a solo home run to break a 2-2 tie with two outs in the top of the tenth inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning, the Panthers answered with two runs off Wildcats reliever

Rob Bland to earn the 4-3 victory. Senior designated hitter Danny Jordan singled to score Pignatiello. Senior left fielder/pitcher Nathan Stone followed Jordan with the game winning single driving in senior right fielder Kirk Walters.

“We really responded real well from their home run,” Schmitz said.

Before the 10th inning, the Wildcat bullpen had allowed three hits in four and two-thirds innings.

“We are really hitting well coming out of the Fieldhouse becuase it’s really hard coming out of the gym,” Schmitz said.

Panther closer Nathan Stone picked up his first win of the season after allowing one hit (a home run) in two and a third innings.

“Nathan really has the mindset of a closer but is having problems with left handed batters,” Schmitz said.

“To get a win against a Southeastern Conference opponent says a lot about our program,” Schmitz said.

The Marshall Thundering Herd ended its four-game losing skid by defeating Eastern in the final game of the weekend.

Left fielder Scott Henning hit the game-winning double down the left field line off Stone.

Thundering Herd pitcher Chris Koutsavlis pitched seven and one-third innings and scattered seven hits while allowing three runs in his first career start.

After the top of the third inning Eastern tied the game after Marshall center fielder Joe Glevenyak misjudged junior shortstop Kyle Haines’ fly ball scoring junior center fielder Marcus Jackson.

“Kirk Walters and Kyle Haines both had great weekends at the plate,” Schmitz said.

Marshall (3-5) notched four runs in the fourth inning aided by from errors by senior first baseman Aaron Shelbourne and Haines.

Marshall reliever Steve Ziroli got the win after only two-thirds of an inning on the mound and Panther reliever Andy Kuntz took the loss.

Eastern will travel to Jacksonville, Fla. this weekend to begin its spring break trip where they will play eight games in 10 days.