The Plattsburgh State baseball team walked off the field this weekend with one thing on its mind: execution.
Over the weekend, the Oswego Lakers swept the Cardinals in a three-game series, and PSUC’s inability to execute was the reason behind the rough outing.
Whether it was leaving a man on base in a crucial situation or grounding into multiple double plays, the Cards just couldn’t seem to get anything to go their way.
Even with the advantage of having more hits in the first two games, head coach Kris Doorey believes the problem lies much deeper than the barrel of a bat.
“Coming into that game, we knew we were facing a strong pitcher, which means we have to limit the number of freebies we’re going to give the other team,” Doorey said. “Everything you do on offense you have to earn and everything you do on defense is crucial, and we just couldn’t bring it all together.”
Problems throughout the weekend included a rough start from senior pitcher Mike Vargues, who hit his first batter and then followed that first at-bat with his only walk of the game. However, the main aspect of the game that PSUC couldn’t bring to the field this weekend was coming up big in tough situations.
As a whole, the team believes they are trying to do too much and, as a result, they are forgetting the fundamentals of the game.
“We had so many opportunities to take them out of the game,” Vargues said. “In the end, the difference was that we made mistakes, and the other team was able to take advantage of them.”
After the game, Doorey expressed his opinion on how the weekend went. He said he was not mad because of the team’s lack of preparation in situational hitting, but he was upset at the fact they were not able to execute something that they had practiced.
Doorey said situational hitting was a regular part of their practice regiment. They work daily on moving the runner over as well as playing smart, fundamental baseball.
Although the weekend did not go the way PSUC would have hoped, there are some silver linings that came out of this weekend’s matchup. The bullpen was starting to look stronger since the early stages in spring training with the help of some underclassmen. Freshmen pitcher Brandon Buksa and junior reliever Andrew Kramer have been poised on the hill in their last couple of appearances.
“Buksa has been coming up big for us lately,” junior pitcher Scotty Orr said, who also had an exceptional outing this weekend. “He really kept us in the game.”
The Cards hope to get back on track in the SUNYAC Conference as they take on Oneonta State in a three-game series this Friday and Saturday. Looking forward, the players are going to keep their heads up and keep grinding for a better record.
As Orr simply stated, “We just have to go play better baseball.”
Email Kevin Morley at kevin.morley@cardinalpointsonline.com
