The Eastern softball team will resume its Ohio Valley Conference schedule this weekend after managing just two hits Wednesday in two games against Purdue.

The Panthers were no-hit for the first time all season long in game one and still couldn’t manage to score in the second game.

The Panthers (8-26,3-7) have the luxury of staying home for Easter weekend as Eastern Kentucky travels to Williams Field for a three-game series at noon Saturday.

The Colonels (18-14,4-5) are one of a pair of teams that has a overall

winning percentage above .500 and swept Austin Peay last weekend in three games after starting the season 1-4.

Eastern batters will not be given a break as the Colonels hold a team ERA of 2.38, which is good enough for third in the conference.

Experience will be on the Colonels’ side as they bring in two solid senior pitchers – Jessica Soto and Jonelle Csora. Csora tops the OVC with 144 strikeouts averaging over eight per game. Soto is fifth in the conference in ERA with 2.05.

Eastern Kentucky also brings a strong hitting game, batting about 150 points better than the Panthers who holds a .249 average.

Jen Christianen is the team’s only every day player hitting above .300, but the Colonels have consistency through their lineup and any player could put the ball in play on any given pitch.

Junior infielder Kari Hagerty leads Eastern in average with .260 while junior infielder Kristen Lovering leads the team in RBIs with 10.

Each team needs to win the series to stay competitive in the conference standings with several teams near or at .500. Otherwise the Panthers will be in danger of following several games behind early in the OVC season. The Panthers lost all four games against the Colonels last season including a 10-1 romping that eliminated Eastern from the conference tournament.