The Pitt State Baseball team lost a series from Friday, March 22 to Sunday, March 24 against Central Oklahoma. In game one, the Gorillas got ahead early, but UCO managed to pull away and secure the win (4-5). In game two, UCO managed to hold off the Gorillas to zero points and win the game (0-3). In the third and final game of the weekend series, UCO pulled away early and stole the game (4-6).
Head coach Bob Fornelli believes the team made some pivotal errors during the matches against UCO.
“Well we were not good enough,” Fornelli said. “We lost a one–run, a two–run, and a three-run game on the weekend so we just couldn’t get over the hump a few times and (we) made a few crucial errors.”
In the first game against UCO on Friday, senior John Oliver and junior Levi McLaughlin each had two RBIs. Junior Ty Herrenbruck had seven putouts, junior Tyson Cushman had three, and junior Clint Allen had one. Oliver added six assists and Cushman had three.
In the second game, junior Greyson Pinkett had seven putouts, sophomore Blain Ohlmeier had four, and Oliver and Cushman each had three. Oliver added three assists and Pinkett had two.
In the third game, Ohlmeier had two RBIs. Herrenbruck had eight putouts, freshman Quin Reasoner had three, and Cushman had two. Reasoner and Oliver each had three assists, Cushman had two, and Herrenbruck added one.
Ohlmeier stood out to Fornelli at the games against UCO.
“Blain Ohlmeier had a good weekend for us,” Fornelli said. “Every time he went to the plate, he gave us a chance to succeed. That would probably be the best guy. Blain continues to be a great asset to our team. He has got an opportunity and he is taking advantage of it.”
The team will continue to work on improving and honing their baseball skills through practice and will also be working on their offense.
“Well again, we are just going to keep grinding, keep trying to improve every day,” Fornelli said. “Again, it is just a couple little things that are getting us in trouble. We have to be better offensively, and we have to take care of the baseball.”
In addition to improving and working on their offense, Fornelli hopes to see the team improve their techniques with hitting and have good mindsets going into their next games.
“(The team will be working on) just hitting and getting our minds right,” Fornelli said.
According to Fornelli, the next matches will be a challenge for the teams.
“(We have) another big challenge ahead for us,” Fornelli said. “We need to come out and swing the bats a little bit better and play quality defense to be successful.”
The Baseball team has a series coming up against Central Missouri starting Saturday, March 30 and continuing until Monday, April 1. All three games will take place at the Al Ortolani Field in Pittsburg. Game one is set to begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Game two is also set to start at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 31. The third and final game of the series against Central Missouri is on Monday, April 1 and is set to begin at 12 p.m.