Eastern had an answer for nearly every Jacksonville State rally this weekend, as the Panthers took two out of three from the Gamecocks.

“The whole weekend was back and forth,” Eastern head coach Jimmy Schmitz said. “We just kept coming back.”

Senior pitcher Kyle Widegren got his first win in the Ohio Valley Conference in game one of the series. Widegren pitched five and one-third innings allowing five runs and 11 hits.

Eastern trailed 3-1 early in the game but a three-run third inning gave the Panthers a lead they would hold for the rest of the game. The Gamecocks would pull within one run of the Panthers twice but each time Eastern would respond in the next inning with a run.

Eastern showed a balanced offense in the win with four different players driving in two or more runs, Eastern also had three hit performances out of sophomore right fielder Mark Chagnon, sophomore third baseman Ryan Campbell and sophomore centerfielder Eric Huber. Huber also led the Panthers with three RBIs

“We talked this week about two out rallies,” Schmitz said. “It doesn’t matter if you have 12 hits if you only score four runs.”

Junior pitcher Kenny Firlit relieved one and two-thirds inning allowing one run and sophomore Chris Vaculik picked up the save with two innings of scoreless relief.

“Kenny Firlit got us through the middle innings and was able to set it up for Chris (Vaculik) to come in,” Schmitz said.

Eastern won the game 9-6 collecting 14 hits.

In the second game, Jacksonville State jumped on Eastern pitcher Ted Juske early, scoring four runs in Juske’s three innings.

“Ted is coming off an injury and it’s hard to go from no live pitching straight to a game,” Schmitz said.

Eastern trailed by five before they could put their first run on the board in the fifth but Jacksonville State responded with two runs and closed the game with a 7-2 win.

Sophomore Jason Cobb had four hits and three RBIs on Saturday and had a career long 10-game hitting streak before going hitless Sunday.

In the rubber match of the series, Cobb drove in the first run for the Panthers with a sacrifice fly in the first and would hold the one-run lead until the Gamecocks would tie the game in the fifth.

Eastern and Jacksonville would each put a run in the fifth and remain tied until the Panthers broke open the game with a four run, four-hit eighth inning. Jacksonville would add another run in the ninth to put the final at 6-3.

Vaculik picked up the win for Eastern allowing three hits and two runs in two and two-thirds innings of relief.

“We are starting to get things rolling,” Schmitz said. “Our middle relief has started answering the call.”