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Men’s baseball put up a struggle, but fell twice to host DePauw this weekend; the Tigers (26–17) won 6–5 in a close game one, followed by 7–2 in game two.
In the opening contest, the Maroons (16–14) fell behind 3–0 after one inning before rallying to take a 5–4 lead in the top of the fifth. Third-year out-fielder Marshall Oium and second-year third baseman Stephen Williams led off the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, with home runs. Yesterday, Williams along with first-year Jack Cinoman earned All UAA First Team honors.
The Tigers tied the game with a base hit in the seventh, then scored the winning run on a single to right center field off fourth-year pitcher Joe Pankow.
Pankow (3–5) notched his fifth complete game of the season.
In Saturday’s second game, the Tiger pitchers combined to hold the Maroons to four hits.
DePauw scored all seven of its runs in the bottom of the fourth inning off one of their starters, who suffered his first loss in six decisions. A bases-loaded triple was the key to their victory.
“We struggled defensively, and that cost us a chance at victory in game two,” said Oium. “We were able to come up with some big hits against DePauw but we never really were able to bust the game open with a huge inning.”
Williams drove in both Chicago runs as he extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
“As a team, we obviously didn’t play our best games of the season against DePauw,” Oium continued.
He explained that part of the challenges the Maroons had to overcome involved early departure time.
“It’s difficult to wake up at six in the morning, ride on a bus for three hours, and play a game against a tough opponent,” Oium said. “But as far as the competition was concerned, I didn’t feel like they were any better of a team than we are.”
“Individually, I felt like I could have hit better; striking out twice in game two and only coming up with one hit in both games just isn’t getting the job done,” he said.
The team’s struggles extend beyond this past weekend’s performances.
“For whatever reason we haven’t been able to find a way to find baseball games this year,” Oium explained. “It’s not because of our lack of talent. I feel like this year’s team has the ability to play with any division three baseball team; it’s more of an issue of us not being able to find that winning formula like we were able to at the end of last year.”
He is optimistic, however, looking forward to their next home game against North Central.
“They are playing really good baseball right now and are a difficult team to play, but—as I said earlier—I think that if we play up to our potential, we can beat anybody,” Oium said.
“I’m feeling confident; we are facing a good team, but I think we are up to task,” fourth-year shortstop Rob Serpico added.
Chicago returns home today to host North Central College at 3 p.m. at Stagg Field.
