Panthers end season strong
By Michael Spencer
@Den_Sports
Eastern took the final series of the season against Tennessee-Martin last week 2-1.
The team, which was eliminated from contention for a bid to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, ended its season on a high note as they won seven of 11 to close out the season 22-27.
Three runs in the seventh inning took the Panthers over the Skyhawks 5-1 Saturday as Cameron Berra brought home the final run with a walk-off single.
“You can’t ask for a better script for senior day,” said Eastern coach Jim Schmitz in a press release from Saturday.
Eastern will lose five seniors next season: Nathan Sopena, Nick Priessman, George Kalousek, Scott Houdek and Troy Barton.
Eastern finishes the season 11-17 in conference play.
The Skyhawks rallied from behind to collect two runs in the bottom of the ninth to record the win for pitcher Dan Tobik, who has a history of keeping Eastern from scoring runs.
“Tobik is a good pitcher, and he shut us out last year,” Schmitz said. “I was proud of how we scored three runs on him.”
The OVC selected sophomore pitcher Matt Borens as pitcher of the week for his 9-0 shutout of Tennessee-Martin in game two of the series. In addition to keeping the Skyhawks scoreless, he recorded 12 strikeouts and only allowed three hits on 119 pitches.
Freshman pitcher Jake Johansmeier started on the mound for the Panthers and gathered four innings without a run and allowed only three hits.
Senior centerfielder Nick Priessman earned two runs in three at bats.Priessman’s sacrifice hit gave him a total of 28, making him the all-time leader for Panthers.
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