Earlham Baseball hustles to Florida after loss to DePauw
By Bryant Foreman
After rescheduling with two different opponents, the Earlham College baseball team finally got to play their first game of the season against DePauw University on Sunday but fell to the Tigers, 11-3.
The Quakers only played one game of the expected doubleheader due to rainy weather that prevented the second of the originally scheduled games.
The Tigers came prepared to play the Quakers as they started off with a 3-1 lead to close the first.
However, the Quakers were not ready to give up that quickly. Freshman infielder Ross Yoho helped narrow the Tigers’ lead with an RBI in the fourth inning. After DePauw had batted in yet another runner, Earlham closed the gap to one run again after junior pitcher and first baseman Corey Murray batted in another runner with a single in the fifth inning.
After pitching through the sixth, junior pitcher Adam Painter was taken out. Trailing by one and two outs left in the sixth, the Quakers gave up four runs in the remainder of the inning, which boosted the Tigers to an 8-3 lead, a gap big enough to coast them to 11-3 for the victory.
Sophomore outfielder Tyler Schroeder led the Quakers hitting 2-3 for the day, while junior infielder Andrew Morrical helped by hitting 2-4, which included a double in the first inning.
“Early in the game, I felt that we showed some pretty positive aspects to our play,” said Schroeder. “We need to put the ball in play more and have a more aggressive approach when we are at bat.”
“We were definitely disappointed about the opener against DePauw. I did not have my best stuff on the mound and got behind in a lot of counts. However, we had a few great individual efforts offensively but need to get more production as a team,” Painter said about the final outcome of the game. “Coming in to Florida, we need to throw more strikes and have timelier hitting. Having said that, as a team we have a long way to go but we did take strides at DePauw in the right direction.”
In Florida, the Quakers hope to capitalize on the opportunity to seal games, as they will play four double-headers during Earlham’s spring break. Last year, the Quakers won four games during their stay in Ft. Pierce, Florida as they faired well against schools such as Mitchell College, Crown College and Utica College.
Senior catcher, infielder and captain Jake Carr, who will be spending his fourth spring break in Florida with the baseball team, said, “I think that we should compete well this year. Although it is Florida, we all know what the purpose of the trip is.”
The Quakers will keep that purpose in mind as they compete in their first game this morning against Geneva at 8:45 a.m. The team will remain in Florida for nearly the entire spring break and is scheduled to play at least four games. You can follow the Quakers’ game-by-game results and statistics during spring break at goearlham.com.
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