Eastern baseball head coach Jim Schmitz could reach 400 wins in the next two days.

Schmitz currently has 398 career wins. The Panthers (4-8) will face longtime rival Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind., Tuesday and at Coaches’ Stadium Wednesday.

Schmitz might have to wait for his 400th win, however. Indiana State (8-3) has won its last six games. The Sycamores’ streak started with a 10-8 win against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside March 8. That win was followed by a pair of wins (9-0, 7-3) against Kentucky, a team Eastern defeated 4-3 in 10 innings. The Sycamores’ last three wins came against Eastern Kentucky. In the three-game series against Eastern Kentucky, the Sycamores outscored the Colonels 21-12.

“They’re 8-3 so they are off to a good start,” Schmitz said. “So this will be a good test for us. We played well down south over break and are looking forward to playing close to home.”

Eastern might be a little fatigued after playing seven games in seven days during spring break. The Panthers boast one win from their trip, and it took 12 innings to defeat Creighton 2-1.

The Panthers have not found their swing yet this season, batting .204 through 12 games.

“The big key for (our offense’s slow start) is we didn’t get to hit on the field down south,” Schmitz said. “We’ve been in the cages for a while and maybe we’re working on bad swings, but we’ll be fine. I like our bats and our lineup, and we’ll be on a roll right here.”

The Sycamores’ offense is already on a roll. Indiana State is batting .318 through 11 games. They are led by senior infielder Chris Hall, who owns a .444 average.

In 45 at bats, Hall has 20, including six doubles and has driven in nine RBI while scoring 11 times.

The Sycamores have four other players (senior outfielder Kevin Eglie, .378; senior outfielder Michael Miller, .367; junior infielder

Josh Prickett, .343 and junior outfielder Jerome Hatler, .333) in the starting lineup with averages over .300.

Indiana State is an aggressive team on the base paths. The team has stolen 29 bases in 32 attempts while allowing 12 stolen bases in 17 attempts. Leading the larceny on the base paths is Miller, who has 10 steals in 11 tries.

Eastern will have the edge in the power department. The Sycamores have three home runs, and all three of them came from senior infielder/catcher John Purdom.

The Panthers have knocked out eight round-trippers led by senior catcher Bret Pignatiello with four.

Schmitz will give the ball to junior right-hander Jared Marshall (1-0, 4.50) when the two teams meat Tuesday. In his only other start this year, Marshall earned a 5-4 win against Jacksonville.

“I’ve pitched against (Indiana State) quite a bit in the past,” Marshall said. “We’ve got a good offensive ball club and if we play good defense we should do well.”

Eastern has struggled defensively so far accumulating 24 errors. Seven of those errors have come from senior Aaron Shelbourne. Schmitz made a change in positions to help Shelbourne cut down on errors. Shelbourne was playing third base, but against Notre Dame, Schmitz moved Shelbourne to second base.

“(Shelbourne) is more comfortable up the middle,” Schmitz said. “He played short last year so we’re trying to put him in a position where he’s more comfortable.”

Junior Chris Uhle replaced Shelbourne at third base.

Marshall’s solution to slowing down the Sycamores’ running game is simple. Stay ahead in the count.

“We’ll just try not to let the hot hitters beat us and try to get out ahead of everyone,” Marshall said.”

Indiana State is expected to start junior right-hander Matt Samuels (0-0, 6.23).

Schmitz is excited about the match up with Samuels.

“That’s the kind a guy we need (to play),” Schmitz said. “He’s got a good arm, doesn’t have a whole lot of pitches and kind of comes right at you.”

Tuesday’s game will begin at 2 p.m., and Eastern’s first home game of the season will start at 2 p.m. Wednesday.