Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: Sports

Senior shortstop Jordan Kreke runs home during the Eastern baseball team's game against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Saturday at Coaches Stadium. The Panthers play Missouri at 6:30 p.m. today in O'Fallon, Mo. (Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

The Eastern baseball team is growing accustomed to competing with big programs.

The Panthers (32-9) have beaten four teams currently in the top three of a major conference. They beat Illinois Urbana-Champaign, currently tied for first in the Big Ten, Indiana, currently tied for third in the same conference, and Oklahoma, which is in second in the Big XII and has been ranked as high as No. 10 in the nation this season. They also beat South Florida, which leads the Big East with a 15-3 conference record.

All of these wins boost the Panthers' NCAA resumè, which is important in the event that they fail to secure the Ohio Valley Conference's automatic bid, which goes to the winner of the OVC Tournament.

"It's amazing how fortunate we are," Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz said. "We play good teams, happen to beat them, and the domino effect of them winning helps us out."

The Panthers get another chance for a "resumé-builder" when they take on the Big XII's Missouri at 6:30 p.m. today in O'Fallon, Mo. The Tigers (24-21) are 11-10 in the Big XII on the season and sit in sixth place in their conference.

Freshman right fielder Zach Borenstein said the team, admittedly, gets more excited for games like these, but their big game experience makes them confident going in.

"We know it's a big game for us," said Borenstein, who hit .375 during the Panthers' three-game sweep of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville last weekend. "I think with the team we have, we've already played schools with big names so we don't psyche ourselves out."

Senior Brian Morrell will take the mound for the Panthers, and Morrell is no stranger to games against big programs. The 6-foot-7 right-hander started Eastern's 5-1 victory against the Fighting Illini April 14 in Champaign and allowed only one run on two hits in five innings of work, earning a no-decision.

He is 3-1 with a 4.46 ERA this season in 19 appearances, including four starts.

Schmitz said having a pitcher like Morrell, who is a reliable midweek starter and also the team's first arm out of the bullpen during the weekend, is valuable.

"I think it's very hard for anyone to imagine how well he's able to do both roles," Schmitz said.

"It's not as easy as you'd think."

Freshman right-hander Ryan Clubb will oppose Morrell for the Tigers. Clubb is 2-2 with a 4.37 ERA in 17 appearances, including one start.

The Panthers will play their second consecutive neutral-site game Wednesday, as they will take on Southern Illinois-Carbondale at 6:30 p.m. The game will be played at Grimes Field in Mattoon.


Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.

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