Eastern snapped an eight-game losing streak Wednesday when it stomped Chicago State 23-6 at Coaches Stadium, collecting 20 hits on the day.

“We needed this win,” Eastern head coach Jimmy Schmitz said. “After a rough road trip, this is what we needed.”

The Panthers jumped out to an early lead with a seven-run first inning sparked by a three- run homer off of the bat of sophomore third baseman Ryan Campbell. The Panthers strung together four more hits combined with an error and two walks to put four more runs up on Cougar starter Adam Sali. Sali was pulled after the first inning when Eastern threw the order.

“It was nice to get out there and get the bats going,” Schmitz said.

In his second start of the season, Eastern pitcher Alex Guttosch allowed just one unearned run in his two innings against Chicago State (0-20) for the win.

The Panthers would go on to have a six-run inning in the third and seven-run inning in the seventh.

Eastern used six pitchers in the game that combined allowed seven hits and four earned runs.

“We saw some good stuff from the pitchers we need to count on later,” Schmitz said. “We still have too many walks though.”

The Panthers walked five batters in the game and had three errors, bringing their season total to 36.

Outfielder Mark Chagnon led Eastern at the plate going 4-5, scoring three runs and driving in three RBIs. Junior outfielder Keijji Szalo went 3-6 with a home run and drove in a team-high four runs.

“This was the game a lot of guys were waiting for to have that big hit or have that big inning,” Schmitz said. “This gives us some confidence going into conference.”

Due to darkness, the game was called after eight innings.

Eastern travels to Tennessee-Martin Friday to open its Ohio Valley Conference season.