3/07/08
A sweep over Dordt College Saturday continued the Baker baseball team’s strong start on the season making it 3-1 overall.
The ‘Cats won 11-2 and 7-1 in the team’s home opener at Sauder Field. Head coach Phil Hannon said he was pleased with the team’s effort.
“I thought it was two pretty good games for us,” Hannon said. “We’re still working on some things, trying to stay sharp as a team. All in all, we pulled out two victories and it was a good performance from our guys.”
The Wildcat offense exploded in game one, tacking runs on the board four of the seven innings and producing 12 hits. Senior Dusty Griffin was successful at the plate with a three-for-five showing, three RBIs and one run scored. Junior Travis McCleary added three hits in all three of his attempts and scored two runs.
Hannon said the offensive effort worked well for the team.
“We can score in bunches, but we don’t want to wait,” he said. “One of our goals is to score every inning. It shows that we can score in a hurry, and we can score a lot.”
Junior Vidal Nuno received his second win of the year from the pitching rubber. In six innings, Nuno had eight strikeouts, one
walk and gave up just one earned run. The transfer from Southwestern College in San Diego said the win was a true team effort.
“I always try to throw complete games,” Nuno said. “I really I don’t have a high performance for me. I just go out there and pitch – that’s all.”
In game two, Baker’s start was slower than before. The ‘Cats tallied one run in both the first and third innings, but Dordt answered back in the third inning with a run to make the score 2-1. It wasn’t until the sixth inning that Baker scored again, this time with a bundle of five runs to take the game 7-1. Hannon said his team needs to focus on a strong start in the second games of doubleheaders.
“I think in the second game we just waited around to see what happens, and we need to be the initiator to get ourselves on track,” Hannon said. “It’s not the biggest concern, but a thing we need to work on.”
Junior Joseph O’Donnell received his first victory as a Wildcat pitcher after throwing five innings. The transfer gave up just three hits and one earned run. Offensively, freshman Christopher Moody smashed two hits and newcomer Jeremy Wright proved his toughness at the plate finishing three-for-three with one run scored.
This season is Wright’s first time competing on the baseball field since his sophomore year of high school. He is currently the team’s centerfield after pursuing track for the past three years, last year for Baker’s team.
“It was tough getting back into it,” Wright said “College ball is a lot different, but things are coming together pretty well, especially when you have good teammates around you to pick you up.”
Wright said he enjoys playing and is confident with his decision to play.
“I just realized that I missed it a lot, and that it’s the sport I enjoyed the most,” he said. “Overall, I just missed the game in general and the whole team aspect of it.”
After six doubleheaders were canceled earlier this year, the ‘Cats also did not play William Woods University Wednesday. The team begins conference play at 1 p.m. Saturday at Sauder Field against Evangel University. Hannon said the team has high expectations for itself.
“I’m anticipating the energy should be high being our first conference game, and the guys will really rise to the occasion and do their part in whatever facet it is to help us win,” he said.