Baseball in Midst of Nine-Game Losing Streak

Spring break could not have ended soon enough for the Oberlin Baseball Team. While most students basked in the rays of the sun, the Yeomen played a grueling string of away games, including a six-game road trip to close out the month of March.

Unfortunately, the team met with little success on the road, piling up nine straight losses. With their record now standing at 2-11, the Yeomen have seen their promising start become a quickly fading memory. But don't think this team has nothing left to give. Even in defeat the Yeomen showed glimpses of fierce competitiveness, rallying from behind in some games only to finish just shy of victory.

The Yeomen's last win came at home against Penn State Behrend, when Senior Mike Fradin hit a game-ending three-run blast in the last at-bat to deliver the team from impending doom. On the road, the Yeomen had a few opportunities to match that moment for sheer dramatic impact, but as the late-inning rallies continued to fall short, it became apparent that drama was no substitute for consistent play.

The Yeomen began their Spring break with a doubleheader at Maryville College (Tenn). In the second game, the Yeomen scored eight runs in their last at-bat, but this burst was not enough to overcome the offensive onslaught supplied by Maryville's batsmen, who rang up 14 runs during the game. Despite losing, the Yeomen came away from the game with some added confidence in their offense. Junior shortstop Andy Smith said, "We had a lot of good hits. That proved to us that we could score."

However, offense was in short supply for the Yeomen over the three games that followed. During that period, the team scored only two runs, and junior pitcher Eben Askins's best outing of the season was wasted in a 4-1 loss to Sewanee College (Tenn).

The Yeomen ended the road trip with a doubleheader against Cedarville College. Oberlin was shut out in the first game, 7-0. In the second game, the team rallied in the late innings once more, but failed to draw closer than the final score of 8-6. The pattern repeated itself two days later in a doubleheader against conference rival Denison University. The Yeomen lost the first game 8-2, but the second game was a close contest. The Yeomen scored three runs in the seventh inning of that game. One more run would have given the team new life, but the Yeomen could not get over the hump.

The losses to Denison got under the team's skin. "It's frustrating to lose to a team that you know you should beat," said Smith. "They're a deeper squad, but we've got more talent and more heart." Smith also noted the team's tendency to play at the level of their competition. "When we play a worse team, we play down to their level. When we play a good, deep team, we play up to their level in the beginning, but then we can't keep it up."

Thirteen games into the season, the Yeomen know they must parlay their late-inning explosiveness into consistent offensive production if they are to succeed within their conference. The key to that transition might best be summarized in one word: confidence.

"We've been playing very uptight baseball," said Fradin. "When we loosen up and play with confidence, our hitting and our fielding improves. Hopefully it will be there consistently for the rest of April and all of May."

Said Smith, "When you have confidence, you're going to put pressure on the other team, and they're going to make mistakes."

Assistant Coach Bobby Earhardt calls this attitude "swagger," and it is something the team has exhibited in spurts this season. Recalling the team's explosion against Maryville, Smith said, "We were going out there expecting to hit, and we hit." The Yeomen will need a lot more of that swagger in the weeks ahead, when they take on their rivals in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

As the conference schedule gets underway, the team looks forward to a fresh start. "We had a really long spring break, and we are putting that behind us," said first-year outfielder and pitcher Zach Pretzer. "This team has a lot of potential, and I think that as we begin conference play it is going to show."

The Yeomen will face a formidable foe when they go up against the College of Wooster this weekend. Wooster, currently ranked 14th in the country, will come into town for a Saturday doubleheader and a full nine-inning contest on Sunday. The chances of an Oberlin victory are slim, but no matter what the outcome, the Yeomen will gain something from the encounter. "It's gonna be a good learning experience," said Smith. "They're a good team to watch, because they have complete confidence."