The red-hot Eastern baseball team’s bats will face its biggest test of the season this weekend in the form of Ben Tootle.

The Jacksonville State junior right-hander was the Preseason Pitcher of the Year in the Ohio Valley Conference and had the Panthers’ number in his one start against them last season.

He threw 7 1/3 innings of scoreless, two-hit ball against the Panthers in a Gamecocks’ 2-0 victory on April 20 of last year. This season he is 3-1 with a 3.58 ERA in eight starts. He has 45 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings pitched.

Tootle will pitch the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader against the No. 29 Panthers (25-6), which begins at 1 p.m. at Coaches Stadium. The three-game set concludes Sunday with a 1 p.m. matinee.

Senior shortstop Jordan Kreke said having Tootle on the mound brings a little more excitement to the series.

“It’s pretty much the same mindset we have every weekend, (to) try to get two out of three and win the weekend,” said Kreke, who went 0-for-3 against Tootle last season. “There will be a little more focus with their big draft pick Tootle, but we’ll still have the same focus as every weekend.”

The Gamecocks (20-13) entered the season as the favorites in the OVC, narrowly edging out the Panthers with 61 votes and five first place votes to Eastern’s 60 and four, respectively.

Senior second baseman Jordan Tokarz said the team has been waiting for this series to happen since before the season even started.

“We know J-State won the regular season last season, so we just have to come out and play our best game,” he said. “We’re looking forward to playing them.”

Junior southpaw Tyler Kehrer will oppose Tootle in the second game Saturday, with sophomore right-hander’s Josh Mueller and Mike Recchia getting the early Saturday and Sunday starts, respectively.

Kehrer is 3-2 with a 4.86 ERA this season in nine appearances, including eight starts. He worked a scoreless inning of relief in Tuesday’s 5-1 victory over Illinois in Champaign.

Kreke said while the team needs to approach the series like any other weekend, he knows a series win would be huge.

“It’s a big statement weekend for us,” he said. “We just need to go in with the same focus we always have, (while) knowing they’re a good ball team.”

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].