Last year, Kathleen Jacoby not only had one of the best seasons by freshman pitcher, but by a pitcher in Eastern’s history.

Her sophomore season hasn’t been as kind.

Eastern’s No.1 starting pitcher last year has struggled this year, unable to capture the dominance she had last season.

Jacoby went 21-12 in an Eastern single-season record 45 appearances, with a 2.36 ERA and 140 strikeouts on her way to second team all-Ohio Valley Conference honors last year.

This year, Jacoby has a 6-10 record in 22 appearances, a 3.93 ERA and 73 strikeouts.

She did not pitch in either of Eastern’s two losses this weekend against Tennessee-Martin.

Junior Karyn Mackie started the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, while junior Ashley Robison started the second game.

Junior Maegan Golloway pitched in relief in both games. The left-hander threw 9 and 1/3 innings of relief in the two games, allowing 12 hits and three runs.

She has appeared in 20 games this year and seven of the last eight.

The junior transfer from Kankakee Community College recorded her first win at Eastern in the Panthers’ 11-7 win last Wednesday against SEMO.

“She throws strikes and gets ahead of the hitters, and she’s just been doing a real good job lately,” said senior shortstop Chelsea Adams.

Jacoby’s last appearance came in the Panthers’ 11-7 win against SEMO. Jacoby pitched 2/3 innings of relief, gave up a run and walked four batters. Her last win came April against Ball State. She pitched 2/3 innings of relief in the Panthers’ April 3 win against Ball State.

Jacoby hasn’t won a start since March 25 when she hurled a four-hit shutout at Samford.

“Kathleen’s having trouble and until she gets her confidence, we’re trying anything that can work,” said Eastern head coach Kim Schuette. “A couple pitchers have done well in practice and we went with them (Sunday).”

Conference standings picture becomes clearer

Eastern has 10 conference games left to determine whether it will play in the OVC Tournament or not.

The Panthers (17-22, 5-10 OVC) are currently alone in eighth place in the 10-team standings. Only the top six teams make the tournament.

“Well, nothing matters unless we win,” Schuette said. “To a certain extent, you can’t tell your kids that you have to win because then they play all uptight instead of playing loose.”

Austin Peay (18-21, 7-10) is currently in sixth place, two full games ahead of Eastern.

The two teams will meet for a three-game series the final weekend in April in Clarksville, Tenn.

Eastern has a three-game series against Morehead State this weekend at Williams Field. The Eagles (15-24, 4-12) are currently in last place.

The only OVC school Eastern plays the rest of the season with a winning conference record is Jacksonville State (25-17, 11-7). The two schools meet May 5 and 6 at Williams Field.

“Conference play is what it’s all about, so our record doesn’t look so good in conference right now as far as numbers,” said senior designated player Katy Steele. “But the big part of the season is the conference tournament. That’s when the real fun starts. It’s like our big dance.”

Panthers hit their first home run at home this year

Steele’s home run against UTM on Sunday was the first by a Panther player at Williams Field this season.

The two-run home run over the left center field fence in the sixth inning cut UTM’s lead to 4-3. The home run chased Skyhawk starter Paij Lintz from the game.

“She had kind of been mixing up the rise ball inside all day so I kind of had a good guess on it,” Steele said. “Once it came, I was ready for it and just hit it.”

The Panthers have 18 home runs on the year.

Home runs have been hard to come by this year in 11 games at Williams Field so far. Steele has the Panthers’ only one, while opponents have only hit two home runs.

Quote of the weekend

–Schuette on team’s recent losing ways

“When you lose a few games, you’ve got to keep plugging away. You can’t just mope and you can’t wear your emotions on your face. We’ve always said, if you’re not happy, fake it. I’m not sure we were very excited (Sunday).”