The SVSU baseball team opened its season over the weekend with four consecutive losses against Maryville University in St. Louis.
“Starting off 0-4 is never a start that a team would want, but we will have some growing pains this year having so many freshmen,” head coach Chris Ebright said. “We had about eight pitchers make their college debut along with six position players.”
Maryville had the luxury of having already played several games, while SVSU was stuck indoors preparing.
Despite the struggles, Ebright remained optimistic for the team’s spring trip next week.
“Overall I saw many positive things out of our team,” he said. “This team does not quit when behind, and we can really hit the ball. I can see in our young pitchers that they are not happy with their outings and will bounce back with some fire in their bellies. We have competitors now, and we will get things straightened out for this baseball program. Patience and being positive is the key.”
Game one Saturday looked in hand for the Cardinals, but an eight- run fifth inning from Maryville cost SVSU its first win of the season. Redshirt freshman Tyler Stambaugh began the inning on the hill for SVSU, but after loading the bases, gave way to freshman Brendan Wise.
The Maryville offensive surge continued, scoring eight runs on five hits. The inning spoiled freshman Amani Godfrey’s start, handing him the no decision after throwing 3.1 innings, allowing only two hits and no runs, but walking seven.
Offensively, junior Derrek Clyde led off the game with a home run to right field. Clyde went on to finish the game 2-4 with three RBIs. Chad Carson was 2-4 with a pair of RBIs, and freshman Cole Brooks added two hits and two runs.
Game two was rough from the start for the Cards, as they committed six errors as a team. Starting pitcher Brian Feinauer allowed eight runs in three innings pitched, but only two of those were earned runs as a result of the Cardinal defensive miscues. Maryville jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first and never looked back en route to a dominating win.
Friday, SVSU began its season with a pair of losses to the Saints. Senior lefty Scott Sency got the nod on the mound for the Cardinals. Sency and SVSU got off to a rocky start, as a two-out RBI single followed by a home run put the team in an early 3-0 hole. However, Sency got into a groove for the remainder of the start, not allowing another run in five innings pitched.
Maryville added four more runs off redshirt freshman Trevor Friday in the sixth.
SVSU scored a run in the first when Carson scored on a wild pitch but struggled offensively. The Cardinals were scoreless until the seventh when a Carson groundout scored Brooks.
“We just didn’t play our best baseball,” sophomore shortstop Jordan Swiss said. “There were a lot of little things that led to us not winning. We have to do a better job in all aspects of the game.”
The struggles continued for SVSU on the back end of the double-header, falling 16-6 to Maryville.
Freshman Mason Schwellenbach allowed eight runs on eight hits in only three innings of work on the mound for SVSU. Three SVSU errors also contributed to the lopsided scoring by Maryville. Senior Jake Tarbell and redshirt freshman Alex Millhisler worked in relief of Schwellenbach.
SVSU showed well offensively, mustering 12 hits and six runs. Carson was 3-5, sophomore Craig Wilson came off the bench to finish 2-3, and Clyde was 3-3 on the day.
The Cardinals kick off their spring break trip against Carson-Newman in Tennessee on March 3.
