Baseball | Hawks 1-8 on season after tough stretch in Arizona

While the rest of the campus was on Spring Break, the Saint Joseph's baseball team was hard at work on a trip out west. Last Wednesday, they were in warm, sunny Tuscon, Ariz. to take on the Arizona Wildcats in a doubleheader. Much like the rest of this young season, not much went the Hawks' way. They dropped the first game 17-3 and the second 12-2.

The game started out well as the Hawks were on the board in the first on a Drew Smith, '10, single that scored Joe Cook, '10, from third to give St. Joe's a 1-0 lead. 

Kyle Mullen, '13, took the mound for the Hawks in the bottom of the first with the lead. That didn't last long, however, as he was pulled after just two thirds of an inning in which he gave up four runs. It was not what the freshman wanted in his first collegiate start.

"Kyle was consistent with what we've done so far," said head coach Fritz Hamburg.  "He didn't give us a chance to compete. But he has a lot of ability and has better stuff than he's shown."

The second inning was no better for the Hawks.  Arizona tallied another five runs off of Shane Carey, '13, and Adam Rivera, '10. This gave them a 9-1 lead after just two innings.

St. Joe's was able to draw a bit closer in the third. Cook led off the inning with a walk.  He had advanced to third and Smith once again drove him in for his second RBI of the day.

By the time the Hawks were finally able to score again in the sixth, it was a 13-2 game.  At that point, Brian Hartsell's, '10, run on the single by Quinn Renner, '13, seemed almost meaningless. 

That was the last time the Hawks were able to put a run on the board in the first game of the doubleheader and went on to lose 17-3.

Unfortunately for St. Joe's, the nightcap wasn't a whole lot better. They lost this one 12-2.
There was hope in the beginning this time, though. Hamburg sent his ace, Randy Mower, '10, to the mound to try and salvage something from their trip to Arizona and give the Hawks their second win of the season.

But once again the Wildcats struck early.  They scored two off of Mower in the first, bringing similar memories of the afternoon.  But Hamburg seemed to think otherwise.

"We just have to grind through the adversity," he said.  "There can't be any negative attitudes in the dugout.  We have to battle head on."

The Hawks were able to answer back in the second with a run of their own.  David Valesente, '10, led off the inning with a double. Two batters later, Kevin Taylor, '12, doubled to right center and Valesente was able to score. 

Arizona was able to chase Mower from the game with  runs in the third and fourth, making it a 4-1 game. 

"Randy hasn't gotten himself into sync so far," Hamburg said of his three-time pitcher of the year. "He has not repeated his off-speed stuff that compliments his fastball.  He is a three-pitch pitcher who has become a one-pitch pitcher.  But this outing was better and I think he is starting to get his confidence back."

Then the floodgates opened. The Wildcats tacked on six in the fifth off of Matt Barnathan, '10, and Quentin Farr, '10.  It was now 10-1.
They added two more in the seventh and rolled to another easy victory 12-2. 

It was not the start the Hawks were looking for this year.  They have now dropped to 1-8 on the year.  Coach Hamburg, however, does not seem too worried.  "There is more to learn from shortcomings than from successes," he said.  "We need to learn from our shortcomings and move forward."

They were supposed to hold their home opener at Campbell's Field in Camden this weekend with a three game set against Northeastern and Cornell. But due to the rain, all three games were cancelled. While the team obviously wishes it could have played this weekend, having a weekend of practice was helpful in getting regrouped. 

"It gave us a chance to work on things instead of going right back out to game situations," Hamburg said.

The St. Joe's baseball team will try to use the things they worked on when they return to the field Tuesday to take on rival Villanova, followed by three more games at home this weekend against Lehigh this afternoon and against Pittsburgh, Youngstown State, and Marist this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively.