The Oberlin baseball team is still looking for that elusive first North Coast Athletic Conference victory after dropping four games to NCAC opponents in the last week and lowering their record to 6-11.
The Yeomen were swept in a home doubleheader against the NCAC East’s Kenyon on Sunday and again in a doubleheader against the NCAC West’s Denison in Canton, Ohio on Wednesday. The Kenyon Lords claimed 7-2 and 9-4 victories, while the Denison Big Red bested the Yeomen by scores of 2-0 and 11-2. The losses to Kenyon dropped Oberlin’s division record to 0-2.
The most notable performance to come out of the four losses was first-year pitcher Ryan Drews’ complete game showing in the first game against Denison. Drews was making his first start of the season after having been reserved for the bullpen because of injury earlier in the season. He surrendered just two runs on five hits in his six innings of work. He walked four, but struck out five.
“It was great to see him come out and pitch like he’s capable of pitching,” senior Bob Montag said, noting that the addition of Drews to the rotation would add more depth to a strong staff.
Drews is leading the team with a 1.76 ERA and has struck out 13 through 15 1/3 innings, but his record dropped to 0-1 as a pair of Denison pitchers combined to one-hit the Yeomen. Sophomore Brook Whitmore produced the Yeomen’s lone hit.
Oberlin’s offensive woes continued in the second game, as the Yeomen managed only two hits against the Big Red, while Denison smacked 16 hits, including five for extra bases.
“I think we’re just in a slump,” Montag said. “They weren’t overpowering.”
The Big Red chased sophomore starting pitcher John Damron in the first inning and never trailed in the game. The loss dropped Damron’s record to 2-2.
The Yeoman defense continues to be more steady than last year’s. Oberlin committed three errors in the second game against Denison, but only one in the first.
The Yeomen also made just one error in the two games against Kenyon, but that one proved to be costly. It came with two out and two on in the third inning of the second game and opened the floodgates. The Lords went on to score five unearned runs in the inning against sophomore starting pitcher Rob Smith, which proved to be the difference. Smith pitched a complete game but saw his record drop to 1-3.
The team’s ERA, currently at 5.40, has remained steady, but the team batting average has fallen to .251 in the last week.
The Yeomen’s battle for a conference victory won’t get any easier this weekend as they play three games against College of Wooster. With a 21-1 record, Wooster was ranked third in the nation among Division III teams in the most recent Coaches Poll.
Wooster is 3-0 in the NCAC East, having swept a three game set with Hiram earlier in the season. They easily lead the division with a .368 average and a 2.93 ERA.
“It can be intimidating,” Montag said of facing a ranked team. “But a lot of it depends on how they approach it. They can’t just come in here thinking it’s a cakewalk.”
Oberlin and Wooster are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m., and a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m., all three at Dill Field.
Notes: Oberlin was scheduled to play a doubleheader last Saturday and a single game Sunday against Kenyon. The doubleheader was pushed back to Sunday and the single will be made up April 30…Sophomore Troy DeWitt took the loss in the first Kenyon game and is now 2-2…Junior Zach Pretzer leads the NCAC in steals with 16.