While some students spent their spring break relaxing on white sandy beaches, the Eastern softball team was busy playing 10 softball games.

The Panthers won their first two games but then lost their next eight and now find themselves on an eight game losing streak.

The Panthers started their spring break strong on March 12 in Rock Hill, S.C., where the Winthrop Eagles hosted the Winthrop Ringor Invitational.

The Ringor Invitational included four pools of six teams. Eastern was pooled with Ohio State, NC State, Winthrop, Furman and NC A&T.

Eastern finished the invitational 2-2 in a four-way tie, in its pool for second place but because of tiebreaker rules failed to qualify for Sunday’s final rounds.

The Panthers started the tournament out strong beating Furman 5-1 and North Carolina A&T 6-2 on Friday. Saturday, however, the Panthers took a turn for the worse losing to the host Winthrop Eagles in the afternoon game 5-1 and then 6-4 to North Carolina State in the night cap.

The Panthers traveled from South Carolina to Boiling Spring, N.C. to play a double header against Gardner-Webb on March 16, where six errors contributed to consecutive losses.

Eastern dropped game one 5-0 where starting pitcher Heather Hoeschen was badgered for three runs in the first inning, earning her the loss.

In game two of the twin bill, Eastern took the lead in the fifth inning on a two-out RBI single by Katy Steele, but an error allowed Gardner-Webb to tie it up in the fifth. The Bulldogs won the game with a four-run sixth and Brittany Whelan was charged with the loss despite not giving up an earned run.

From North Carolina the Panthers headed to Atlanta for the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic.

The Georgia Tech Classic is similar to the Ringor Invitational.

The only differences between the Ringor Invitational and the Buzz Classic are the number of teams and the number of pools.

The Buzz Classic has one more pool, five total and one more team, 25 in all.

On March 19 the Panthers played both Georgia State and NC State.

Unfortunately the Panthers ran into Andrea McNary on the wrong day in game one against the Georgia State Bulldogs. McNary pitched a complete game four-hit shutout earning the win in a 1-0 victory and tying her career high in strikeouts with 15.

In game two the Panthers would get a chance to avenge their loss to the NC State Wolfpack just six days earlier.

The Panthers dropped their first contest to the Wolfpack by just two runs. Seven innings were not enough this time as the Wolfpack got the win 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth on a fielder’s choice.

On March 20 the Panthers were shutout by both Bowling Green and Tulsa.

In game one Bowling Green’s six extra base hits and solid pitching performance from sophomore Lindsay Heimrich were enough to overwhelm the Panthers 8-0.

In game two, Tulsa’s starting pitcher Julie Fennell went the distance striking out 10 and walking only one as the Golden Hurricanes beat the Panthers 5-0. Pennell’s walk in the second inning would turn out to be the only baserunner in the game and the lone statistic that prevented her from pitching a perfect game.

The Panthers will look to rebound from eight losses as they open up conference play at Eastern Kentucky on March 27.