The Pitt State Club Baseball team defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks (6-1) in a match Saturday, April 13.
Club president Drew Roy believes the team played well and was thankful to have won the match as it gives the team a chance to play in the post season and possibly the world series which will be held in Pittsburg in the middle of May.
“(We) definitely played very well,” Roy said. “That was a must win game for us to have a shot at making the post season and winning that game almost locked us into second place… puts us definitely in a great position…”
According to Roy, the positive energy from the team was great and one of the best experiences to have in baseball.
“The energy in the dugout was phenomenal and it (was) the best it has been all season,” Roy said. “Let me tell you, playing with that kind of energy the entire group is the most fun baseball experience you can have, and it just rubs off on everybody…”
There was not a lot that Roy saw that the team needed to improve on before their next series.
“(We need to) just keep the status quo (and) keep it up,” Roy said. “Nothing really stood out (that we needed to work on) because that (was) probably the most complete game we have played all season. Arkansas is a good team so that was definitely not an easy win… getting a win like that was huge.”
One player stood out to Roy during the match this past weekend.
“Jordan Miller threw a gem on the mound,” Roy said. “He had a seven-inning complete game. He gave up nine hits, but no extra base hits and he had 10 strikeouts. He also hit a laser of a homerun, into the wind that put us up four to nothing in the third inning.”
The next match is a non-conference game, but Roy hopes to continue building on the club’s general resume with more victories.
“It is our last series against Colorado Springs,” Roy said. “They are making a long trip. It is a non-conference but at this point we just need anymore wins we can get to help build out at large resume…”
Despite facing some difficulties, Roy believes the team has done well thus far this season.
“This group has faced (some) adversity from trying to find a place to practice,” Roy said. “We have had 10 guys quit from the fall and so this group that we have now has shown that they want to be here (and) they want to be apart of something. We had a great run last year and definitely kind of a shock to find out how many guys did not want to be apart of this. So, with the group we have it has been a testament to everybody sticking together and building something and we have a real shot of getting back to the world series in Pittsburg now.”
The next series is against Colorado Springs from Saturday, April 22 to Sunday, April 28 here in Pittsburg. This is the last series of the regular season for Club baseball. After that is the Great American Regional competition which is Thursday, May 2 in O’Fallon, Missouri and marks the beginning of the post season tournament. After that is the NCBA DII World Series Thursday, May 16 here in Pittsburg.