The men’s baseball team is seeking in 2003 to build on the unparalleled success the team has enjoyed over the past five seasons. Last year, the Red Hawks reached the NCAA Division III College World Series for the second time in school history and set a school record for victories with an impressive 32-9 overall record.
This year’s team looks “to play hard every game, win the UCAA Championship, and return to the NCAA World Series,” said Head Coach Carl Steffen.
In order to accomplish these goals, his team participated in a rigorous conditioning and strength-building program during the off-season under the assistance of John Rowan, coordinator of strength and conditioning.
“This off-season one of the main concerns of the team was to get bigger, stronger, and faster. We worked three to four days a week conditioning with Coach Rowan,” said co-captain Suth Shuket ’03.
During the off-season, Steffen also worked to develop his team’s communication schemes and game execution, two factors that he sees as the team’s primary weaknesses early in the season.
He would like batters to cut down on the number of strikeouts and pop-ups at the plate and pitchers to field their positions better and work ahead in the count. “Our success will come from a total team effort in every game,” Steffen said.
Despite losing graduates Travis Teeter, David Hubbs, Steve Palmer, Brendan Witherell, and Dean Powers, Steffen’s team remains very experienced. They are led by a veteran pitching staff composed of seniors Brian Brzek, Aaron Seibert, and Pat Hughes and juniors Max Miller, Erik Thunell, and Brian Rickert.
“Our pitching staff is very deep and on any given day 13 or 14 guys could be in the starting lineup and contribute,” said Shuket.
Many of those veteran players do not feel much pressure to repeat their strong performance of last year because they already know what it takes to succeed.
“Players in our program expect and look forward to playing in big games,” said Steffen.
Shuket concurred with that assessment. “With a large number of returning players with plenty of playing experience, the pressure of being a top-ranked team should not concern us. If we play our game, the success will be there again this year.”
What might hamper achieving that success, however, is this year’s schedule of UCAA opponents. Rivals like Ithaca and Cortland will be eager to topple the Red Hawks from their lengthy stay at number one in the conference.
“Because of the team’s success last season, it has put a bullseye on our backs. Every game we play is now a big a game for the other team—everyone will be gunning for us. In the past Montclair State, William Patterson, Cortland, and Ithaca [were] some of the teams that we would be gunning for. This year they will be coming after us.”
Despite that, the team does not plan to modify last year’s successful strategy, composed of strong pitching and defense combined with clutch hitting.
“The same things that made us successful last year will make us successful this year. Defense, pitching, and offense will all need to be there to make us a contender for a national championship,” said Shuket.
The Red Hawks went 8-4 during spring break in Ormond Beach, Fla. They started out their first eight games with a mediocre 4-4 record against Benedictine, St. Xavier, Tiffan, and Marian. However, in the four games since then the team stepped up their play to defeat Brandeis, Anderson, and Aquinas in a string of four nail-biters whose average scoring differential was two runs.
The Red Hawks will play their first home game of the season against Montclair State at Robison Field on Thursday. First pitch is at 3 pm.
