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Buccaneers pleased with pitching in Florida
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By Jim Franz
Sports Editor
Beloit goes 4-2 on trip, thanks to pitching, ‘D'
Beloit College's baseball team lost out to the weather the final two days of its trip to the Tampa, Fla., area and that's a scenario the Buccaneers may become all too familiar with by the time spring actually rolls around in the Stateline.
When they were able to hit the diamond in the Sunshine State, head coach Dave DeGeorge was extremely pleased by the results.
Beloit finished 4-2 in Florida and one of those losses was in extra innings to nationally-ranked Augustana.
“There were lots of good things that happened, but primarily you have to look at our pitching,” DeGeorge said.
A big believer in his pitchers throwing strikes and limiting bases on balls, the head coach said his team was on the mark all week. In 53 innings, they walked just 13 while striking out 45.
“Our goal is to throw strikes at least 60 percent of the time,” he said. “We had one game at 61 percent and another at 63 and some were over 70.”
DeGeorge's son, Jordan, a sophomore transfer from Coe College, led the way for the Bucs with a 0.93 earned run average over his 9 2/3 innings. The former Turner High standout was 1-0 as he walked three and struck out 13. Opposing hitters batted just .171 off him.
“Jordan pitched extremely well,” DeGeorge said. “He had an error that cost him a victory or he would be 2-0. He's normally a good fielder, but he's had an elbow problem so had hasn't had the chance to work much on defense.”
Ryan Schmitz (1-0) was also lights-out with 14 strikeouts in seven innings of work. He allowed three hits and two walks, posted a 2.57 ERA and opponents hit .125.
A third starter, Rick Krajewski (1-1), led the team with 12 2/3 innings of work. He allowed nine hits and three walks while fanning six. He posted a 2.84 ERA and foes hit .191 off him.
The Bucs' top reliever, Chris Welborn (1-0), worked four games and allowed only three hits and one run in 7 1/3 innings. He walked one, fanned five and had a 1.23 ERA. Opponents batted just .120 against him. As a team, Beloit's pitchers posted a 3.06 ERA.
The pitchers were also the beneficiaries of some fine defense behind them. Beloit had 10 errors in the six games, fielding at a .961 percentage. Opponents had 11 errors and were at .955.
Beloit's batters had their moments and finished the six games hitting .277. If the team is to return to the Midwest Conference Tournament for the first time since 1995, Beloit will need to be able to score some runs against league powers Ripon and St. Norbert.
“Our hitting has been average at best,” DeGeorge said. “That's where we need to show the most improvement.”
Scott Slubowski was one of the hottest Bucs, hitting .391 (9-23) and slugging .522. His four RBI tied Jason Connelly, Drew Oswald and Jon Moran for team high. His nine hits tied Oswald (.360) for the team lead. Mike Kovach (.333) and Schmitz (.320) both scored five runs. Jake Majeski (5-11, .455) and Stacy Bruner (4-11, .364) also got off to solid starts.
DeGeorge said the Bucs have already conceded their home field, The Ballpark at Strong Stadium, won't be playable this weekend so they've postponed a double-header scheduled for Saturday against Milwaukee School of Engineering. The Bucs are also scheduled to play MSOE in Milwaukee the following day and that's unlikely to be played as well.
“Their field is in a hole,” he said. “They probably won't be able to play there until April.”
NOTES: The Bucs were 6-10 in the MWC a season ago and were picked third in the pre-season MWC coaches' poll, behind St. Norbert and Ripon and ahead of Carroll and Lawrence. They have two all-MWC players returning, catcher Matt Bartz and outfielder Jon Moran. In Florida, Bartz batted .231 (3-13) while backup Connelly stepped in and hit .375 (3-8). Moran hit .238 (5-21), starting all six games. ...Last year, St. Norbert took three of four games from Ripon during the 2007 regular season to win the North, but the Red Hawks rebounded to beat the Green Kights twice in the league championship tourney. Ripon won its fourth straight MWC crown and the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. ...In the MWC Preseason Poll for the South Division, Illinois College was voted No. 1, followed by Monmouth, Grinnell and Knox.
Beloit College's baseball team lost out to the weather the final two days of its trip to the Tampa, Fla., area and that's a scenario the Buccaneers may become all too familiar with by the time spring actually rolls around in the Stateline.
When they were able to hit the diamond in the Sunshine State, head coach Dave DeGeorge was extremely pleased by the results.
Beloit finished 4-2 in Florida and one of those losses was in extra innings to nationally-ranked Augustana.
“There were lots of good things that happened, but primarily you have to look at our pitching,” DeGeorge said.
A big believer in his pitchers throwing strikes and limiting bases on balls, the head coach said his team was on the mark all week. In 53 innings, they walked just 13 while striking out 45.
“Our goal is to throw strikes at least 60 percent of the time,” he said. “We had one game at 61 percent and another at 63 and some were over 70.”
DeGeorge's son, Jordan, a sophomore transfer from Coe College, led the way for the Bucs with a 0.93 earned run average over his 9 2/3 innings. The former Turner High standout was 1-0 as he walked three and struck out 13. Opposing hitters batted just .171 off him.
“Jordan pitched extremely well,” DeGeorge said. “He had an error that cost him a victory or he would be 2-0. He's normally a good fielder, but he's had an elbow problem so had hasn't had the chance to work much on defense.”
Ryan Schmitz (1-0) was also lights-out with 14 strikeouts in seven innings of work. He allowed three hits and two walks, posted a 2.57 ERA and opponents hit .125.
A third starter, Rick Krajewski (1-1), led the team with 12 2/3 innings of work. He allowed nine hits and three walks while fanning six. He posted a 2.84 ERA and foes hit .191 off him.
The Bucs' top reliever, Chris Welborn (1-0), worked four games and allowed only three hits and one run in 7 1/3 innings. He walked one, fanned five and had a 1.23 ERA. Opponents batted just .120 against him. As a team, Beloit's pitchers posted a 3.06 ERA.
The pitchers were also the beneficiaries of some fine defense behind them. Beloit had 10 errors in the six games, fielding at a .961 percentage. Opponents had 11 errors and were at .955.
Beloit's batters had their moments and finished the six games hitting .277. If the team is to return to the Midwest Conference Tournament for the first time since 1995, Beloit will need to be able to score some runs against league powers Ripon and St. Norbert.
“Our hitting has been average at best,” DeGeorge said. “That's where we need to show the most improvement.”
Scott Slubowski was one of the hottest Bucs, hitting .391 (9-23) and slugging .522. His four RBI tied Jason Connelly, Drew Oswald and Jon Moran for team high. His nine hits tied Oswald (.360) for the team lead. Mike Kovach (.333) and Schmitz (.320) both scored five runs. Jake Majeski (5-11, .455) and Stacy Bruner (4-11, .364) also got off to solid starts.
DeGeorge said the Bucs have already conceded their home field, The Ballpark at Strong Stadium, won't be playable this weekend so they've postponed a double-header scheduled for Saturday against Milwaukee School of Engineering. The Bucs are also scheduled to play MSOE in Milwaukee the following day and that's unlikely to be played as well.
“Their field is in a hole,” he said. “They probably won't be able to play there until April.”
NOTES: The Bucs were 6-10 in the MWC a season ago and were picked third in the pre-season MWC coaches' poll, behind St. Norbert and Ripon and ahead of Carroll and Lawrence. They have two all-MWC players returning, catcher Matt Bartz and outfielder Jon Moran. In Florida, Bartz batted .231 (3-13) while backup Connelly stepped in and hit .375 (3-8). Moran hit .238 (5-21), starting all six games. ...Last year, St. Norbert took three of four games from Ripon during the 2007 regular season to win the North, but the Red Hawks rebounded to beat the Green Kights twice in the league championship tourney. Ripon won its fourth straight MWC crown and the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. ...In the MWC Preseason Poll for the South Division, Illinois College was voted No. 1, followed by Monmouth, Grinnell and Knox.
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