Saturday’s baseball games against Saint Xavier became Eastern’s home opener after the original outing against Indiana State was rained out last Wednesday.

Eastern (5-10) split the games with Saint Xavier (15-7). The Panthers won the first game in nine innings 7-6 and lost the second game in seven innings 15-9.

In the first game, senior outfielder Kirk Walters led the Panthers in hits and RBI batting 4-for-5 and driving in a career-high four runs. Walters also claimed the game winning hit after he lined a single to left field to allow senior catcher Bret Pignatiello to score the winning run.

“That is a really good sign that we are coming back and winning games and the offense is coming back and that is encouraging,” Schmitz said.

Senior pitcher Damon White started the game and threw for six innings giving up five of Saint Xavier’s six runs on eight hits.

Sophomore pitcher Jason Pinnell came in at the top of the seventh. He got the first two outs of the inning and then was relieved by senior Micah Gray. Gray threw for 2 1/3 innings and struck out four batters. The only hit off of Gray was senior shortstop Jake Brewer’s home run in the top of the eighth inning.

Pignatiello and senior outfielder Danny Jordan had two hits. Junior infielder Kyle Haines had a pair of RBI and scored twice.

Gray claimed the win for the Panthers and improved his record to 1-0 for the season.

The Panthers were plagued by eight errors in the second game, allowing Saint Xavier to score 15 times.

After falling behind early, the Panthers closed in on a 7-1 deficit when Jordan and junior infielder Chris Uhle singled. Sophomore outfielder Eugene Oliver was hit by a pitch and junior infielder Jeff Cammann singled to score Jordan. Haines was walked and earned another run for the Panthers.

Pignatiello stroked a double gaining two more RBI. By the fifth inning, Eastern was down by a single run with the score 7-6.

The rally continued into the bottom of the fifth when Uhle hit his first a home run of the year, a 2-run blast giving Eastern the lead 9-7.

The Panthers’ rally was silenced and the Cougars tied the game and surged ahead in the top of the seventh when senior pitcher/outfielder Joe Williams broke a 9-9 tie with a RBI double. Freshman infielder Luke Gregerson gave the Cougars an insurance run with an RBI single.

The final blow to Eastern came when junior infielder Mark Holstein hit a grand slam off senior Nathan Stone.

Stone took the loss for the Panthers bringing his record to 2-1.

Schmitz was optimistic despite the loss.

“The big thing we have and we are still struggling

defensively,” Schmitz said. “It’s hard to stay positive when you are giving up that many runs to the other teams.”

Schmitz attributed some of the bad play to the poor field conditions at Coaches’ Stadium.

“The field is playing rough and sometimes it is hard to get in a groove defensively,” Schmitz said.

Schmitz is one win away from his 400th career win. The Panthers will have the chance to help Schmitz reach the landmark Tuesday when they play at Saint Louis.