By Pat Tintle
Sport Editor
Remember those annoying growing pains everyone got as a kid? That is exactly what the baseball team is experiencing right now.
Coach Larry Sudbrook has stated that his team is in the first year a rebuilding phase in the 2015 season, and the addition of 19 ballplayers has caused some exciting moments for the Bonnies this year, but has also provided some frustrating losses as well.
The Bonnies are in the midst of a six-game losing streak, and it was just one month ago that the team posted a 10-2 record. Now the Bonnies are 14-20-2 (2-13) and are coming off back-to-back 4-3 losses against Binghamton.
The team led both games going into the seventh innings, but failed to keep the lead late in the games.
Close losses have been a recurring theme for the Bonnies, as they have lost seven one-run games.
“Oh yeah, it’s painful,” Sudbrook said. “Especially when we’ve lost one-run games. It means we’re right there, we’re just not good enough to win.”
Sudbrook said that in order for the team to win one-run games, small-ball must be implemented in practice and in games.
“We’re going to work on suicide squeezes, stealing third,” Sudbrook said. “We’re going to get (the team) running and work on those tiny things that score you runs, because in a lot of these games this year, one more run would have been enough.”
While neither the offense nor defense has been particularly poor throughout the season, the team’s statistics are not admirable either. The Bonnies have a team batting average of .257, but have yielded a .282 batting average against, paired with a 4.46 earned run average.
The Bonnies will travel to the Bronx this weekend as they take on Atlantic 10 opponent Fordham. Despite an 18-25 overall record, the Rams have a 9-6 record within the A-10.
Sudbrook stated that Fordham will be a challenge for the Bonnies as they try to break their losing streak.
“They’re good,” Sudbrook said. “Fordham is in year three of rebuilding their program, and we’re in year one. They just swept Saint Louis last week, and Saint Louis is good. If [Saint Louis] doesn’t win the conference, they’ll be number two.”
Bunts, steals and teamwork will need to be a prominent aspect of the Bonnies’ game if they want to compete against Fordham, according to Sudbrook.
“Fordham does play a lot of small-ball,” Sudbrook said. “They’re going to pitch, they’re going to run, they’re going to hit. They pressure you defensively and they have good pitching. That will be a difficult weekend and they’ll be a real challenge. If we can take one out of three, then I’ll call it a decent weekend.”
The Bonnies will take the field in the Bronx today at 6 p.m., tomorrow at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon.
tintleph11@bonaventure.edu
