Baseball gets mixed performances from pitching

The Marist baseball team spent the weekend in North Carolina as they took on UNC-Charlotte in a 3-game series. The Red Foxes dropped two out of three and now stand at 3-7 on the season. "We got off to a slow start on the mound," head coach Chris Tracz said. "But how we responded was really the thing to take away from the weekend."

Junior right-hander Kyle Putnam took the mound for Marist when they opened the series against the 49ers on Friday. The home team jumped on Putnam right off the bat scoring 10 runs in the second inning and they never looked back. UNC followed their explosive second with five runs a piece in the third, fourth and fifth innings. The Foxes' solid day at the plate was not enough to match the offensive eruption by the 49ers, as Marist fell 26-9 in what was their worst loss of the season. Putnam received the loss and was credited with seven earned runs in 1.1 innings of work. His record now sits at 1-1 and Tracz is confident that his standout pitcher will quickly return to form.

"It's only the third week of the season," Tracz said. "He's going to get 15 starts and I told him after the game that you're always going to have one or two that you aren't going to want to remember, and this is his one for the year. So I'm not really worried about him at all."

The Foxes would soon rebound in a big way, as junior left-hander Sean McKeown pitched six scoreless innings in an 11-7 victory the next day. Marist's spectacular day at the plate included 18 hits, three apiece from senior left fielder Ryan Gauck, junior catcher Bryce Nugent and freshman second baseman Zach Shank. Tracz was pleased with the way his team rebounded from Friday's lopsided loss.

"I think it just shows the mental toughness that they have," Tracz said. "They took some adversity and moved forward. I think a lot of teams can really get demoralized from a loss like we had, but our guys kept their heads up and kept grinding. It's a big confidence booster to know that we can take some hits and keep on going."

The two teams closed out the series on Sunday with a seesaw battle in which Marist would forfeit a 7-1 fourth inning lead en route to a 13-10 UNC-Charlotte victory. The Foxes jumped in front early with a five-run second inning, and entered the bottom of the eighth leading 10-6. But the 49ers would then score seven runs in a wild inning that included five hits, two walks, two hit batters and a wild pitch. Nugent's bat was the silver lining in the Foxes' loss, as he went 3-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored. The catcher continues to be a star in the middle of the Marist lineup.

"He's been doing a spectacular job." Tracz said. "He's one guy that everybody knows is going to be in the four-hole every day, and when he's swinging the bat well he changes the lineup and how pitchers have to pitch to us which makes everyone more dangerous and a lot more effective."

While the foxes have excelled at the plate, the pitching staff has given up an average of 9.7 runs per game during the first 10 contests. The coach is still in the process of figuring out where all of his pitchers fit in on his staff, but he remains confident they will find their groove.

"We're going to have to continue to identify specific roles and who's going to pitch where and when," Tracz said. "But I'd be hard pressed to think that they guys who have struggled are going to struggle much longer. Even thought the numbers aren't great, I've seen a lot less bad pitches being thrown."

Tracz is particularly interested in the improvement of his starters, which he feels will improve the play of the relievers.

"If we get good starts, it shortens up our bullpen," he said. "And then we've got a chance to really win those close games. We had to extend our bullpen to six or seven innings this past weekend, and I think that any team in the country would have a hard time on the mound when they're not getting great production out of their starters."

Marist will return to the field next weekend with a four-game series against Longwood.