The Eastern softball team has been on the road the last four weekends playing four or five games over those weekends but will take a quick break from that to take on Evansville Wednesday afternoon in a double header.

The first game will get underway at 3 p.m. and the next one will follow right after at 5 p.m.

The Panthers will remain on the road to take on Evansville. Eastern has struggled since the first weekend of the season just under a month ago. Eastern currently holds a record of 4-15.

They are also on a five-game losing streak. The Panthers last win came Feb. 26th against Northern Kentucky; Eastern blew Northern Kentucky out of the water 9-1. Since then the Panthers have been shutout three times and also have two eight-run losses and one-10 run loss.

On a positive note, these games do not count towards the Panthers’ Ohio Valley Conference record, which is all that will matter come the end of the year when they look for a spot in the OVC tournament.

Eastern has a young team this year. This season is just getting started and things are still falling into place. Last season, they finished with a 14-11 record in OVC games.

Senior first baseman Kylie Bennett was very successful at the plate last weekend, driving in six runs and hitting three home runs. Bennett currently leads the team with a .308 batting average.
Senior shortstop Katie Watson has also off to a strong final season for the Panthers as she is hitting .304. Both Watson and fellow senior outfielder April Markowski have driven in nine runs apiece. Bennett leads the team with 13 RBI’s.

Despite the struggles as of late, the team has stuck with sophomore pitcher Jessica Wireman. Wireman has not won a game since the first weekend of the season, but has continued to be a big strikeout pitcher. She has 63 strikeouts and just 45 walks through 71 innings pitched.

She currently holds a 6.08 earned run average and a record of 3-12.

The Panthers have also relied on sophomore pitcher Michelle Rogers to pitch some innings for the team and come in to relieve Wireman if she gets into trouble in the game.

Rogers has pitched 47 innings through the first four weekends of the year. She is currently 1-3.

Evansville’s Purple Aces have had a successful start to their season with a 10-5 record. They lost their last game to Kentucky 7-1 Feb. 28.

The Purple Aces’ success has come from the dominance at the plate from four hitters. Michal Luckett has started all 15 games for the Purple Aces and has a .449 batting average. She has a team-leading two home runs this season.

Chandra Parr and Danielle Freeman have been the main run producers for Evansville. Parr leads the team with 12 RBI’s and Freeman has 11. Freeman is batting .350 this season and Parr holds a .326 average.

Tess Hupe is also batting over .300 with a .302 average.

Pitcher Morgan Florey is the team’s ace as she is undefeated, 5-0, this season She also holds a very low ERA of 2.11. She has pitched just 38 innings this season but has recorded 63 strikeouts. She averages almost two strikeouts in an inning.

Aman Blankenship has pitched the most innings this year with 42, but has not been recording the wins. She is currently 2-3 with a 5.14 ERA. Emily Lockhart has a high ERA at 5.59 but has a 3-1 record.

Sean Hastings can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].