Eastern hosted the Ohio Valley Conference tournament last weekend when Jacksonville State defeated UT Martin 2-0 to claim the conference championship.

Kelci Johnston, a senior outfielder, secured the win for the Gamecocks with a solo shot in the sixth inning.

The Panthers fell 5-1 against Eastern Kentucky Saturday as the Colonels dashed the tournament favorites’ hopes of capturing their first OVC post-season title.

The tournament was delayed Thursday by a heavy downpour that stalled the SIUE and Jacksonville State game for seven hours before the competition was postponed until Friday.

Eastern entered the tournament as favorites and OVC regular season champions. Bolstered by their 35-12 regular season record, the Panthers cruised past Morehead State and into the second round where they suffered an upset defeat to Murray State.

The Panthers dropped to the losers bracket to face Eastern Kentucky. In that match-up, Eastern gave up four runs in the fourth and failed to place a runner in scoring position for the rest of the game.

“Obviously they had a big inning,” Eastern coach Kim Schuette said, following her team’s premature exit from the tournament.

OVC champion Jacksonville State gave up only four runs over the course of the tournament. Junior, Tiffany Harbin’s pitching was a rallying point for the tenacious defense as she allowed a .70 ERA.

Runner-up UT Martin was forced to play a double-header Sunday as the representative from the losers bracket. After battling with Murray State and Eastern Kentucky for a pair of one-run wins, UT Martin struggled to put the ball in play against Harbin and the Gamecock’s defense.

Eastern’s ground crew serviced the five-day competition through inclement weather and 14 games. On Thursday, the crew was forced to roll out the infield tarp for the 12:30 game and then removed it later that afternoon, only to put it back in place moments later as more rain moved into the area.

Despite the rainy weather and the early defeat, the Panthers went forward with optimism.

“We just have to set our goals even higher and just make sure we keep doing what we did this year,” said Westover.

Michael Spencer can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].