The schedule wasn’t friendly to Eastern as the Panthers take on their in-state Big Ten rival from Champaign.

After losing its last four games and six of its last seven contests, Eastern is forced to generate some momentum by taking the field against Illinois Fighting Illini at Illinois Field.

“We are not playing the game well right now,” Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz said. “What we need to do is not allow Illinois to be better than they already are.”

Sophomore Erik Huber will make his first start of the season after being held out of pitching duty due to an elbow injury. Illinois’ starting pitcher decision will be a game-time decision. The Fighting Illini tends to use a handful of hurlers in their mid-week non-conference games.

“I think maybe we waited too long to use (Huber) and that’s something I take the blame for,” Schmitz said.

The rivalry has tempered recently as Illinois has won its last six games against Eastern, including a 13-3 blowout at Coaches Stadium last year.

“Yeah, when I got here we had beaten Illinois five straight times but now we have been getting beat pretty bad,” Schmitz said.

Illinois (23-12-1, 12-4) is currently leading the Big Ten Conference and just took three out of four against the Indiana Hoosiers.

Fighting Illini sophomore designated hitter Mike Rhode captured his first Big Ten Player of the Week honor after hitting .500 last week. The Brookfield, Wis., native smashed a game-winning grand slam with two outs in the final inning of Saturday’s first doubleheader game, and drove in seven runs and scored three last week. Rohde has been a major contributor to Illinois’ best Big Ten start since 2000, hitting .450 (18-for-40) in the last three conference series against with 15 RBI and six runs. The sophomore has hit a blistering 18-for-36 (.500) in the last two weeks with three home runs, 14 RBI, nine runs and two walks, and his batting average has skyrocketed from .244 after the Ohio State series to its current .364.

“We know how good they are but what we need is somebody to give us the big break we have been looking for all season,” Schmitz said.

Schmitz pointed out another solid Illini player other than Rhode that could hurt the Panther pitching staff greatly.

“(Illinois first baseman Dusty) Bensko is their best player and we’ll spend a little bit of time preparing for them but we’re making too many mistakes because of the mental funk we’re in,” Schmitz said. “That’s my job as a coach to turn that around.”

Bensko was named the National Hitter of the Week two weeks ago and is hitting .368 with a team-leading 11 home runs, 47 RBIs and .474 on base percentage.

Schmitz would like to use this non-conference rivalry to turn around its Ohio Valley Conference record.

“With the four OVC series left, I can see 9-3 not crazy possibilities,” Schmitz said. “They’ve just got to see it too.”