Eastern’s best hitter, and also the best hitter in the Ohio Valley Conference, didn’t play in the two games against Murray State this past weekend.

Senior Erik Huber is dealing with a right hamstring injury he suffered during the final game of Panthers’ series at Tennessee-Martin the first weekend in April.

“I was rounding third and just kind of felt it,” Huber said. “I don’t think it pulled or anything. Just kind of strained it, tweaked it.”

The 6-foot-6, 215-pound first baseman did not work out in the field last week, but took batting practice all week, said senior Jason Cobb, Huber’s roommate.

“Last week was just kind of let it rest,” Huber said. “This week, we’re kind of getting after it with some running.”

Huber said he is hopeful he can play at full speed again this weekend when the Panthers play at Jacksonville State.

Whether he plays at all in Wednesday’s game against Indiana State or Thursday’s game against Olivet Nazarene is unclear.

“When he is going live, is there kind of a holding back of the muscle or is it tight?” asked Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz. “If it’s tight, then he’s probably able to go. But if also that muscle in the hamstring muscle keeps pulling back, he’s obviously being restricted from going full-go.”

Huber leads the OVC in hitting (.468), slugging percentage (.798) and on-base percentage (.509).

He also has a 21-game hitting streak, which is believed to be the third longest in Eastern baseball history, and leads Eastern in home runs (seven) and RBIs (25).

“We’ve got to keep doing our main job,” Cobb said. “He’s been the guy always getting the big hits. It just makes us have to play a little more of a small ball type game.”

This week’s starting pitching rotation

Eastern’s starting pitching has been a source of frustration for much of the season. Tyler Kehrer will get the first chance to ease those frustrations Wednesday.

Kehrer, a freshman left-hander, will start at Coaches Stadium when the Panthers take on the Sycamores. Kehrer sports a 2-1 record, but has a 6.12 ERA and opponents are hitting .284 off him.

“My quote of the week is ‘fortune favors the bold,'” Schmitz said. “We have four or five weeks ahead of us. We either get excited about going after that or we don’t. We’ve been kind of average and we got to get past the average point. People got to pitch. I just don’t see guys attacking the opponent.”

Sophomore right-hander Brian Morrell will start Thursday’s game against NAIA school Olivet Nazarene.

Morrell sports a 1.59 ERA in five appearances this year. The 6-foot-7 Quincy native started the March 21 game against Chicago State and gave up one hit in three innings of work.

However, Morrell struggled in his relief appearance in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader against Murray State.

Morrell pitched 1 1/3 innings and did not give up a hit, but walked five batters and allowed one run.

Kreke records first career home run

Sophomore second baseman Jordan Kreke hit his first career home run at Eastern this past weekend.

Kreke hit Murray State pitcher Lucas Allen’s first pitch in the fourth inning over the fence in left centerfield.

“When I hit it, it felt real good,” Kreke said. “I figured with the wind blowing out, it had a pretty good chance.”

The solo home run cut the Panthers’ deficit to 10-4, and was the last run Eastern manufactured against the Thoroughbreds.

The Bartelso native hit only .216 as a freshman, but has made up for that this year.

Kreke has the third-best average (.333) on the team. He started 12 games last year, but has already started that number this year through 25 games.

Kreke can also play at shortstop, third base and second base.

“He’s probably our most valuable defensive player because he’s able to do a lot,” Schmitz said.

Adjustments made to Cobb’s swing

Cobb came into his junior season on a hitting roll.

Cobb was coming off a sophomore season that saw him hit .307, with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs.

He struggled last year, only hitting .253 with one home run and 35 RBIs.

“It was real difficult last year because I knew I was being counted on as an offensive producer,” Cobb said.

Cobb came into last weekend’s series against Murray State only hitting .215, with one home run and 10 RBIs.

But he improved those numbers with a productive weekend.

Cobb went 3-for-5 in the two games against Murray, hit a solo home run and drove in three runs.

“Hopefully, this weekend shows he’s back in full force,” Huber said.

Heading into Wednesday’s game against Indiana State, the Panthers’ designated hitter is now hitting .250, with two home runs and 13 RBIs.

An adjustment Schmitz and the Eastern coaching staff made in where Cobb holds his hands helped this past weekend, Cobb said.

“We just lowered his hands,” Schmitz said. “He tends to do something when he’s up high. It’s a rhythm that gets in a bad plane. He doesn’t even get the bat through. So we lowered them and the bat traveled better through the zone.