Anderson goes yard for baseball tie in Florida

Baseball team plays ten games over Break

It's a defining moment in baseball: the team is down by one as the innings wane, and batter after batter fails to produce. But then a humble first-year steps up to the plate and stares down the pitcher who is surly, older and more experienced. Through it all, though, that fledgling manages to lace the ball out of the park, tying the game at a run a piece.

So it was for the Yeomen last week against Sewanee College when first-year Lu Anderson saved the game with a home run in the top of the seventh, tying the score at 1-1.

The baseball team played more than 10 games this Spring Break in Florida and Tennessee facing up to stiff competition and learning a great deal.

"There were a lot of close games," first year Andy Smith said.

"In the close games we would get a lot of guys in scoring position," baseball coach Eric Lahetta said. Of the teams' five losses, three were by only one run and the other two were by two runs. "We played really well. Our intensity level was fantastic," Lahetta said.

In the game against Sewanee College, Anderson scored one run and junior Dave Schummers scored twice putting Oberlin over the top at 3-2.

"Matt Burns pitched a hell of a game that day," Smith said. "That was probably one of our best games. So far, it has been our highlight," he said.

At the beginning of the week, Oberlin fell to Earlham College 5-2 as they began their trek into Tennessee. The next day in Florida, the Yeomen stumbled against Kalamazoo losing 9-4. Then the competitive spirit infected the team as they made a respectable showing against Lawrence University, matching them run-for-run until the bottom of the seventh when with 2 outs, Lawrence drove in the winning run to win 8-7.

The next game, Rio Grande College beat Oberlin 7-2, but Oberlin returned the next day to face Kalamazoo College again. This time, however, the Yeomen played well defensively, losing only 1-3 in seven innings.

In their Thursday game versus Heidelberg University, Oberlin played their last non-conference team before the real regular season starts Saturday. Mass amnesia fell over the team as no one remembered how much they were slaughtered by.

"I don't remember," senior Brendan Cody said.

"A lot to a little?" Smith winced about what he remembered the score.

"Am I supposed to remember?" senior Jason Quinn asked about the score.

And sad but true, the Yeomen were pummeled Thursday, leaving their heads spinning with a 26-5 loss.

"It was one of those days," Quinn said. "None of the pitchers kept the ball down," Quinn said.

On his own play Quinn said, "I will play better. I wish I could blame it on freshman jitters, but I'm too old."

The Yeomen are gearing up for the their doubleheader against Denison Saturday.