Going into the season the Tribe knew what to expect from the offensive side of their lineup. It was the Tribe’s young pitching staff that was a question mark.
Officially three-fifths of the way into the season, the pitching staff is set on turning that question mark into an exclamation as the Tribe staff combined to throw a three hitter to beat the George Washington Colonials 16-1 on April 9.
Starter Cody Winslow ('10) got the win for the Tribe, making him 3-5 on the season. He allowed one run on three hits in five innings. Winslow was efficient and economical in his pitches, facing only 18 Colonial hitters in five innings.
“I just got a bunch of little things I’m trying to do: stay back through the ball, try to locate three pitches,” said Winslow, who had three strikeouts in the outing. “We just try to come out here and throw strikes every time.”
Combining on the three hitter were relievers Jeremy Neustifter ('09), Kevin Landry ('10), Logan Billbrough ('11) and Tyler Truxell ('10). Each worked one inning a piece and allowed no runs and no hits.
“I’m hoping that we are working towards that,” said head coach Frank Leoni. “I see us progressing all the time and I think we’re capable of it. If we do it and we set that kind of tone, I think we’re going to be a very difficult team to beat.”
Offensively, the Tribe has been proficient all season. Going into the game against GW, they were ranked fourth in the nation in doubles, twelfth in batting average and fourteenth in hits. This game was indicative of these numbers as first baseman Mike Sheridan ('09) went three for three with three doubles and left fielder Greg Maliniak ('08) had a grand slam and five RBI.
If there is a question mark for the Tribe heading into the latter part of the season, it is what will be the performance of the pitching staff when everyone gets healthy. Landry and Billbrough, the slated number two and three starters heading into the season, have both suffered injuries that have knocked them out of the rotation. Wednesday was Landry’s first performance since March 1.
“They are throwing more like themselves,” said Leoni. “Billbrough has been out there a couple of times but he hadn’t been himself. He’s been reluctant, almost, to let the ball go… I’m very encouraged and I hope that we can keep getting contributions out of these guys.”
The Tribe’s rotation is starting to take shape at exactly the right time. As the academic year is winding down, the baseball year is heating up. After the series with New York Tech this weekend, the Tribe has weekend conference series’ with VCU, Towson, Northeastern and George Mason before the CAA tournament.
The start of exams combined with the increasing pressure of a conference race presents a complicated problem for Leoni and his players.
“It’s tough, I know it’s really a wear on our players,” said Leoni. “I know they got a lot going on right now and are trying to keep it all together, but that’s part of their commitment to playing baseball. No professor’s going to let them off the hook; no team’s going to let us off the hook on the field. We’ve just got to fight our way through it.”