Macomb is the next destination for Eastern as they travel to face Western Illinios University Tuesday at 3 p.m. on Vince Grady Field.

Eastern (14-18, 2-4) is coming off a three-game series at in Ohio Valley Conference action against Murray State. The Panthers lost two against the Racers but were able to end the weekend with a win.

The Panthers were forced to change the schedule of the weekend games after their field was vandalized. They moved the doubleheader from Saturday to Sunday and played only one game on Saturday.

Head coach Jim Schmitz said the team handled the vandalism very well.

“In regard to the vandalism that is over with; we dealt with it very well and we got all the work done, but we still didn’t play well,” Schmitz said.

The pitchers for the weekend series were senior pitcher Damon White, junior pitcher Jared Marshall and senior pitcher Matt Tyson.

Schmitz said he was very disappointed this weekend but said the team was still doing good things.

“We are getting some good things to happen. Marshall and Tyson are pitching well,” Schmitz said.

Despite good things happening, Schmitz said the Panthers just need to learn how to win the game.

“We are still not figuring out how to win. We are doing things that are making it more difficult for us,” Schmitz said.

Western (11-19) played one game against Illinois College over the weekend. The Leathernecks defeated Illinois College 13-1. Western was scheduled to play Monday at 3 p.m. against Northern Illinois but had to cancel due to scheduling conflicts.

Schmitz said for the game against Western they are going to try some different pitchers in new roles. Schmitz said freshman pitcher Mike Budde will start against Western.

Budde said the freshmen have been struggling all season.

“I am just going to go in there and throw strikes, let them hit the ball and let the fielders do the rest,” Budde said.

Schmitz said the reason for the change is because they need to have pitchers to fall back on when the top pitchers do not last as long as expected.

“When we get into a weekend jam like we did this weekend when White didn’t go as long as we thought he would, we are kind of looking at a situation when the top five to six starting pitchers don’t go for very long,” Schmitz said. “We need some answers from the freshmen. We need some ways to win.”