Richie Derbak helped the Eastern baseball team to a much-needed sweep at home this weekend with clutch hitting.

The sophomore catcher from Lebanon had six hits in nine at-bats in the weekend series against Tennessee-Martin with one home run and nine RBIs.

The sweep came at a great time for Eastern, who is now tied for third in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 6-3 league record (14-14 overall).

“We had a bad series getting swept last weekend (at Tennessee Tech on March 29-30),” Derbak said. “It was extremely important for us to get this sweep at home.”

Eastern has now won five straight games, all at Coaches Stadium, where they are 8-1 this season. Derbak said the Panthers benefited from extra batting practice on their own field before the five home games last week.

Eastern sophomore left fielder Curt Restko said he could tell Derbak was zoned-in from the first game of the series.

“He’s clutch,” Restko said. “Every time we need a run and someone’s in scoring position, we know Richie’s going to do the job.”

Derbak has only struck out six times in his 81 plate appearances this season.

“I can’t stand striking out,” he said.

He said by protecting the plate with two strikes and being aggressive as a hitter he can keep from giving away an at-bat with a strikeout.

“Richie is always going to put the ball in play, and he’s usually going to hit the ball hard,” Restko said. “When you don’t strike out you just give yourself a lot more opportunities to find holes and get hits.”

“We’ve finally had some good weather and have been able to get some extra swings,” he said. “It makes a huge difference getting used to the surroundings that you’re going to play in.”

The added number of swings helped Derbak see the ball well in the series with UT-Martin. He raised his average to .333 and now leads the Panthers with 23 RBIs.

Restko said he believes Derbak could hit better than .350 this season, and that Derbak’s ability to come through with men on base is a key to the team’s success.

Derbak has been able to succeed in those situations by hitting pitches to the opposite field and swinging at fastballs early in the count.

This approach helps Derbak to consistently put the ball in play and put pressure on the other team’s defense.

While his bat has certainly helped Eastern this season, Derbak said his biggest responsibility is not at the plate, but behind it. Derbak is responsible for leading the defense and keeping the pitchers comfortable as the Panthers’ starting catcher.

“The pitchers have been wonderful all year, and I want to help them anyway I can,” he said. “It’s important for them to have confidence in me behind the plate.”

Derbak hopes his leadership behind the plate in addition to his clutch hitting will help Eastern get to the OVC Tournament.

“It was a bummer to miss the conference tournament last year,” he said. “This year we are really focusing on making it.”

The Panthers will have a chance to continue to climb in the conference standings with a three-game series this weekend at Murray State.

Micky Deming can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].