After a promising 5-4 start to the season, the baseball club’s losing streak has reached ten games falling to a disappointing 5-14.
After losing three out of four to Madonna University in late February, The Cougars hoped to get things back on track against Concordia University, but the struggles would still haunt the team. Concordia would take both games of the doubleheader.
The Cougars struggles to cross the plate in game one, only collecting one run from a Jack Gainer home run late in the game to knot the score at 1-1. Concordia would answer in the top of the 8th, knocking in two runs, giving Concordia a 3-1 victory.
Game two saw the Cougars offense wake up a bit, but the team would still come up in short. Starting Pitcher Tim Brokop had a short outing only lasting 2.2 innings while surrounding three hits, three runs and three walks.
The Cougars trailed early but would score five runs in the 3rd inning, giving them a 5-2 lead, but Concordia wouldn’t quit. They would fight back to tie the game and eventually would hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 7th inning to give Concordia the doubleheader sweep.
After a disappointing series, The Cougars would travel to Florida, but the warmer weather wouldn’t help the Cougars heat up as the club would get swept against Saint Thomas University, the 21st ranked team in the country.
In game one against Saint Thomas, Matthew Mckenzie would pitch 7.1 innings of a quality ballgame, only surrounding three runs. Despite the strong outing, the Cougars only mustered two runs, despite strong games from third baseman Matt Monahan, designated hitter Jack Gainer, and shortstop Mark Martin. Cougars would fall 3-2.
Saint Thomas would lead the entire game two, scoring in six consecutive innings and collecting 12 hits. Cougars offense wasn’t silent either. Right fielder David Chianelli, shortstop Mark Martin, and designated hitter Drew Hunniford all had strong games, each collecting multi-hit games. Despite ten hits from the Cougars, they couldn’t keep up with Saint Thomas falling once again 8-6.
The final game wouldn’t be as close as the first two games. It was a tough game for the Cougars pitchers. Starter Anthony Chimera started off strong, pitching three scoreless innings to open the game before being pulled in the fourth after giving up two runs.
The bullpen would have a tough time cooling down Saint Thomas’ bats.
Logan Demato pitched three strong innings, but relievers Erik Eggert, John Constantino, and Jared Jones would struggle out of the pen. Eggert would give up five runs in only one inning of work, Constantino would walk three batters without recording an out, and Jones would give up three runs himself.
After getting swept by Saint Thomas, things wouldn’t get better against Southeastern University, the third ranked team in the country. Southeastern would dominate the entire series, handing the Cougars another sweep.
Southeastern’s pitching would be the story of game one. The Cougars would strike out a total 17 times and couldn’t get anything going offensively. Cougars starting pitcher Tyler Hebel would have a quality start, but the bullpen would continue to be shaky. Cougars dropped game one 8-0.
Southeastern would continue to dominate game two, putting on a show offensively. Southeastern would put on a home run derby all by themselves, hitting five home runs. Despite the final score being 12-2, the game was close until 5th inning. Southeastern was only up 3-1 until they exploded for nine runs in the final two innings.
The final game would be much closer than the previous two but still wouldn’t be enough for the cougars falling 7-3. First baseman Ben Zordani and catcher Zach Forney would have strong games for the Cougars, both collecting two hits apiece. Despite this, the pitching for the Cougars still had a tough time getting Southeastern out at the plate.
Despite the ten game losing streak, the Cougars could finally look to finally playing a game at home for the first time this season. A struggling team can look for the home crowd and less travel to help get out of a long slump. The Cougars will play their first home on March 14 with a doubleheader against Robert Morris University.
They will look to get back to their winning ways before the slump turns in to something that can derail their season.
Dominic Pellegrini
Sports Reporter