Eastern’s baseball team ran into a buzzsaw Tuesday afternoon upon their return to the Midwest when the Panthers lost to Indiana State.

The Sycamores (9-3) jumped on Eastern (4-9) early with three runs in the first inning, and they didn’t let up as the Panthers lost by a score of 13-2. But one thing Eastern doesn’t want to do is let this defeat go to their heads.

“Even though it turned into a route we felt good for four or five innings after they got out to that 3-0 lead in the first,” head coach Jim Schmitz said. “The home run in the first was on a bad pitch call, but after that we held them off until the sixth inning.”

After the Sycamores’ first baseman John Purdom hit a three-run home run in the first inning, Eastern gave up only one run in the next four innings. But the problem for the Panthers was during that stretch they did not score a run.

“We do not feel great disappointment from the end result, but we don’t feel good about our mental errors and the lack of focus we displayed today,” Schmitz said. “When we don’t score we get too disappointed and feel like the game is over when we still can get back in it.”

This win for Indiana State was their seventh in a row as their bats have caught fire early this season. The Sycamores have combined for 38 runs in their last three games, and did not spare Eastern from their offensive outburst.

This set-back for Eastern comes after the Panthers finally started to find some consistency.

After early season loses where the Panthers were defeated by large margins, Eastern has been able to keep most of their games close lately. While they have not been able to finish off most of the games and pile up some victories in the win column, there were good signs as they prepared for Indiana State.

In seven of Eastern’s last nine games, the difference between Eastern and their opponents was only one run. In this stretch, the Panthers went 4-5 overall.

These games were all played in various tournaments in southern states, and the Panthers were not greeted well by Indiana State when they started play in the Midwest.

“We cannot harp on not swinging the bats well right now,” Schmitz said. “We need to focus on such things as toughening up after an error and we need to just let the offense take care of itself.”

Junior Jared Marshall (1-1) started the game for Eastern, and did not have a good showing as he was charged with seven runs, five of them earned, on six hits in 5.1 innings. However, Marshall did show some resiliency when he bounced back to pitch well after his first-inning struggles.

“I thought Marshall pitched well for us after the first inning home run. He held them off for quite awhile, and he made really good pitches over that stretch,” Schmitz said.

Eastern’s bullpen did not offer much relief after Marshall exited the game. Freshman Kirk Miller gave up five more runs in 2.2 innings as the game was put away by Indiana State over this stretch.

Indiana State made things worse for Eastern’s pitching staff after batting around in two straight innings.

While the Sycamore offense was rolling, the Panthers could not get anything going against Indiana State pitcher Matt Samuels. Samuels pitched six innings and only allowed one run on five hits. He was able to strike out five Panther hitters, while permitting two walks.

Indiana State’s bullpen finished off the Panthers by giving up only one run in the three innings they pitched.

Most of Eastern’s offense came from the top of the order, as their top three hitters were able to set the table well. But the Panthers did not take advantage of people on base. Only one of the three runs was earned, the other two were results of two Indiana State errors.

No. 2 and 3 hitters for Eastern, generically Haines and senior Brett Pignatiello, led the team with two hits apiece.

The only RBI was tallied by junior catcher Eddie Rivera when he entered the game as a pinch hitter for Pignatiello.

The Panthers will have another shot at Indiana State as the two teams finish up a home-and-home series on Wednesday when Eastern opens the doors at Coach’s Stadium for the first time this season at 2 p.m.