After starting the season with a 5-1 win against No. 14 Lafayette-Louisiana, the Eastern baseball team has lost seven games in a row.

Eastern has played three top-25 ranked opponents to begin the season and will face its fourth at the Diamond Classic, which starts Friday in Starkville, Miss.

During the losing streak, the Panthers’ offense has averaged 2.9 runs and has been shutout three times.

Eastern baseball coach Jim Schmitz said the reason for the struggles has been because players have not been using the right approach when hitting with runners on base.

In the seven losses, the Panthers have stranded 53 runners, 24 coming in the last two games.

“We’re getting guys on base, but we’re just not doing a good job of getting runners in and that was the problem during the weekend in Arkansas and (Tuesday) against Louisville,” Schmitz said.

After Eastern returned home from its 6-0 loss Tuesday at No. 20 Louisville, Schmitz said he emphasized to the team on what the approach should be at the plate during Wednesday’s practice and also getting back to knowing what every player’s job is on the team.

“They have to know their roles, to get on base, to be an action guy or their role is to knock in runs,” Schmitz said. “We’re not a team that is going to mash, so we have to be a team that executes and gets guys on base.”

The Eastern offense has executed half of the equation that Schmitz wants, but the final execution is still not being completed.

In their loss Tuesday in Louisville, Ky., the Panthers went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Schmitz said he is telling his players to do less in those situations.

“If I ask you to go hit a double or a home run with a runner at second then you could actually blame me – that’s a dumb approach,” he said. “If they go away just get a base hit and get a run in. I’m asking them to do less, therefore the approach should be easier.”

Eastern will play Michigan State and No. 18 Mississippi State two games apiece during the weekend and scoring runs will not be the only challenge for Eastern.

Entering the four-game weekend, the Panthers’ pitching staff has allowed 35 walks, which ranks seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference. Mississippi State on the other hand has taken 66 walks offensively.

Schmitz said the Eastern pitchers have to be more assertive than the Mississippi State hitters to avoid giving up free base runners.

“They’re not going to swing at that first-pitch curve ball they’re just not,” Schmitz said. “They’re approach is well known, but at the same time you could throw first-pitch fastballs and they’re either out or 0-1.”

The Bulldogs (6-4) are coming off 13-1 and 10-1 wins against Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Eastern’s other opponent is Michigan State, (4-2) which lost its last game Sunday 4-1 to Washington at the Pac 12-Big Challenge.

Although the Spartans do not walk as often as the Bulldogs, both teams do not strike out at a high rate compared to their walks.

Mississippi has 67 strikeouts in its 10 games, while Michigan State has struck out 28 times compared to its 19 walks in six games. The Eastern offense has walked 27 times, while striking out 51 times.

Eastern will have red-shirt senior Troy Barton back on the mound during the weekend after resting during the Arkansas series because of a bulging disk in his lower back.

Although Schmitz said Barton would pitch at the Diamond Classic, he added that the right-handed pitcher would not start, but rather come in as a reliever.

The decision to have Barton pitch during the weekend came after he threw on the mound Wednesday before the team made the road trip south.

The Panthers’ first game is against Michigan State and starts at 2:30 p.m. Friday in Starkville, Miss. Eastern’s second game starts at 11 a.m. Saturday against Mississippi State.

The weekend ends with a double-header, as Eastern plays game one at 11 a.m. Sunday against the Spartans and then game two at 3 p.m. against the Bulldogs.

All games will be played in Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium.

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].