The ‘Breds had an interesting week with a shutout loss of 5-0 against the University of Memphis on Tuesday and shutting out Mid-Continent 7-0 on Wednesday.
The shutout loss against Memphis was the first time in 101 games that the ‘Breds did not score a run. Head Coach Rob McDonald said the team never expected its side of the board to be scoreless.
“They threw some pretty good arms at us,” McDonald said. “We always expect that we’re going to score runs.”
However, McDonald said the loss didn’t make him disappointed in his players.
“(Memphis) played the University of Mississippi and shut them out too,” McDonald said. “So it’s not something I dwell on.”
Despite the tough loss for the ‘Breds, freshman Sheldon Baxter saw his first starting game of the season pitching 6 innings only allowing 4 runs to score. McDonald said he was extremely pleased with Baxter’s success.
“He has confidence, and he does a very nice job pitching,” McDonald said. “He’s going to continue to develop to be an outstanding pitcher.”
McDonald said he was proud of the ‘Breds defense, but said they just didn’t put enough hits together to score.
Two ‘Breds players had some success at the plate against Memphis. Catcher Nick Paradossi went 2-2 and took a base after being hit by a pitch, while outfielder Ty Stetson hit a single in the eighth inning.
The day following the loss against Memphis, the ‘Breds showed their worth after beating the Mid-Continent Cougars 7-0.
Three ‘Breds players pitched that night allowing only 6 hits between them. McDonald said the ‘Breds did everything right in the game against the Cougars.
“I thought we pitched well,” McDonald said. “We swung our bats pretty well. We probably could have had a lot more hits than we did, but we played pretty good defense. It was pretty much a good all around game.”
The ‘Breds will now face a three-game series this weekend against Alabama A&M.
After being swept in their last three-game series match-up against Jacksonville State, the ‘Breds will have a chance to redeem themselves. McDonald is optimistic about the upcoming series play.
“We’re always excited to start a new series,” McDonald said. “It gives us an opportunity to go out and continue to improve. We’re looking forward to having a real good series.”
McDonald said pitching options for the series are being discussed, but has two juniors in mind for the mound.
“Cameron Finch has been starting our Friday games and Cashtyn DeLeeuw has been starting the second game,” McDonald said. “So we’re leaning towards staying with that. Those guys have pitched well.”
The three-game series against Alabama A&M will start at 3 p.m. today.
Story by Taylor Crum, Assistant Sports Editor.