2008 Woodie Awards
Baseball starts season with sweep
By Caleb Pardick
Rocket Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: Sports
Sunflower seeds, bubblegum and Gatorade is the standard fare that makes up the average baseball player's in-game diet.
But for the SRU baseball team last weekend, coffee, hot chocolate and cookies had to suffice to help keep the players and coaches warm during the team's four-game, dual-twinbill sweep of NAIA Tiffin University.
Tiffin, whose baseball team is in a transition period between NAIA play and NCAA Division II status, will be eligible to qualify for the Division II Championships in 2008.
Coach Jeff Messer said the temperatures, which were in the mid-30s on Saturday and in the mid-40s on Sunday, were an obstacle he's grown accustomed to as a baseball coach in the northern part of the country.
"(Playing in the cold) is just one of those deals where it's mind over matter," Messer said. "It just kind of neutralizes both teams. But it's a lot easier playing in the cold when you're winning."
The Rock won the four games by scores of 2-0, 6-5, 5-4 and 3-1. All of the games were played in Chillicothe, Ohio, at Veterans Administration Memorial Stadium, home of the Frontier League's Chillicothe Paints.
Messer said that seeing live competition was the most important aspect of last weekend's games.
"The biggest thing for us was just being able to get outside to play," Messer said. "For some of these early-season games, we're limiting pitch counts and not using the same lineup every single game like we would be during the middle of the season."
Freshman catcher/designated hitter Matt Adams led the way for the Rock on Saturday, going 4-4 on the day with two doubles and an RBI, including a 3-3 performance in game one that also included a stolen base.
Adams, who played in his first two collegiate games Saturday, said his play was the result of being mentally prepared.
"I knew coming in this year that me and Jimmy Eimiller were going to be sharing time at catcher, so I had to get in my mind that I have to be ready to play every day," Adams said. "The biggest thing for me was the change between the speed of the game from high school to college."
But for the SRU baseball team last weekend, coffee, hot chocolate and cookies had to suffice to help keep the players and coaches warm during the team's four-game, dual-twinbill sweep of NAIA Tiffin University.
Tiffin, whose baseball team is in a transition period between NAIA play and NCAA Division II status, will be eligible to qualify for the Division II Championships in 2008.
Coach Jeff Messer said the temperatures, which were in the mid-30s on Saturday and in the mid-40s on Sunday, were an obstacle he's grown accustomed to as a baseball coach in the northern part of the country.
"(Playing in the cold) is just one of those deals where it's mind over matter," Messer said. "It just kind of neutralizes both teams. But it's a lot easier playing in the cold when you're winning."
The Rock won the four games by scores of 2-0, 6-5, 5-4 and 3-1. All of the games were played in Chillicothe, Ohio, at Veterans Administration Memorial Stadium, home of the Frontier League's Chillicothe Paints.
Messer said that seeing live competition was the most important aspect of last weekend's games.
"The biggest thing for us was just being able to get outside to play," Messer said. "For some of these early-season games, we're limiting pitch counts and not using the same lineup every single game like we would be during the middle of the season."
Freshman catcher/designated hitter Matt Adams led the way for the Rock on Saturday, going 4-4 on the day with two doubles and an RBI, including a 3-3 performance in game one that also included a stolen base.
Adams, who played in his first two collegiate games Saturday, said his play was the result of being mentally prepared.
"I knew coming in this year that me and Jimmy Eimiller were going to be sharing time at catcher, so I had to get in my mind that I have to be ready to play every day," Adams said. "The biggest thing for me was the change between the speed of the game from high school to college."
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