The Hawks finish 1-2 in their series against Davidson University
The St. Joe’s Baseball team struggled against their Atlantic 10 rival Davidson University last weekend, winning just one game in the three game series. Due to weather, St. Joe’s condensed the weekend into a single game on April 13 and a double header on April 14.
St. Joe’s got off to a rough start on Friday as they struggled to subdue a Davidson offense that erupted for 18 runs. Freshman outfielder Alex Mardiney and junior utility player Eric Jones drove the Wildcats with a couple of big days at the plate. Davidson was able to ride a 10 run fourth inning to an 18-6 win.
“Friday was a tough start,” head coach Fritz Hamburg said. “We got to situations to finish hitters but unfortunately didn’t. We have to make better pitches. It was a hitters day with the wind blowing out and I think out pitches were too elevated. They did what they should have done with them.”
The Hawks were able to gain some momentum back on Saturday with a 6-3 win. Led by junior Tim Brennan’s eight strong innings pitched the Hawks were able to quell Davidson’s offensive force. Freshman first baseman Cole Stetzer and senior shortstop Matt Maul carried the offensive load, combining for 4 hits, 3 runs, and an RBI.
“We all know that when Tim is on the mound it is a great chance to win,” Hamburg said. “It was great that he did what he did and stepped up. Especially after Friday to have him pitch like that was a big deal.”
Brennan credited his strong outing to his approach following St. Joe’s loss on Friday.
“Those are the teams you want to play, the top teams in your conference,” Brennan said. “Part of it was looking forward to that challenge and wanting to beat them while knowing what they are capable of. They showed they hit the fastball really well so I got in front of their hitters so they couldn’t sit on the fastball.”
The second half of the doubleheader did not go as smoothly for St. Joe’s. It was a back and forth affair through the first couple innings, but Davidson ended up pulling away.
“This game was anybody’s ballgame,” Hamburg said. “I thought it was a solid game but they just executed a bit more than we did. We fought and battled but they won the game.”
Mardiney continued his hot weekend with another impressive offensive showing, helping Davidson pull off the victory.
“He wasn’t the guy coming into the weekend we had a focus on,” Hamburg said. “But we missed pitches with him out over the plate. He was aggressive and when we made mistakes he took advantage.
St. Joe’s is now in a dogfight to make the A-10 tournament. To get in, they have to win their upcoming A-10 series against University of Rhode Island and Fordham University.
“We know what we have to do,” Hamburg said. “The top seven teams go to the tournament and we are in eight right now. Really all we have control over now is playing as well as we can and continuing to improve in the areas of the game we know we have to be better at.”
Brennan is confident that if St. Joe’s can get into the A10 tournament they can make some noise.
“When we play a complete game we have been able to beat some very good teams,” Brennan said. “We just need to find ourselves in the tournament because once we get in if we get hot we can do some damage.”
St. Joe’s takes on the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware on April 18, before playing a pivotal series starting April 20 against the University of Rhode Island Rams up in Kingston, Rhode Island.
