Eastern will have to win four straight games in order to capture their first Ohio Valley Conference title after losing to Murray State, a team they had swept in all three of their regular-season games.

Leslie Bridges hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to give the Racers a 2-1 lead which they never relinquished.  Murray State added another run in the sixth which secured a 3-1 win and a place in the semifinals against Jacksonville State at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

“Today actually could have been either team’s ball game,” said EIU coach Kim Schuette. “We thought that we hit the ball as well, if not better than (Murray State) did.  We just hit four shots right at them and two hard ground balls and they got two timely hits.  That was the difference.” 

Eastern will face third seeded Eastern Kentucky at 10 a.m. in the losers bracket Saturday. 

“I know that we’re really eager to play them,” said Schuette.  

The Panther’s split the two-game regular season series with EKU.  

However, the Panthers’ are facing an uphill battle as they must now win four consecutive games in order to take the conference tournament.  

“I know that they’re still hungry,” said Schuette.

The Colonels (35-19) are lead by sophomore Katie Tackett and her OVC-best, 12 home runs.  Senior Raquel Howes enters Friday’s game with a .333 batting average and has driven in 40 runs. 

The OVC softball tournament is a double-elimination competition.  A loss in Saturday’s game will result in an early exit from the tournament for Schuette’s Panthers.

“I expect to see some stubborn, hard-nosed hustle and hard-nosed work,” said Schuette. “We’re playing to win.”

After the Panthers’ game, SIUE will meet UT Martin at 12:30 p.m and then Murray State will play Jacksonville State at 3 p.m.  If the Panthers defeat EKU they will play again at 5:30 p.m. against the winner of the 12:30 p.m. matchup.