For some teams, the .500 mark is a goal, a good indicator for the season. The Case Western Reserve University baseball team is not most teams.

The Spartans return from the start of their 2015 campaign and stand at 4-4 and are tied for second in the University Athletic Association (UAA) Conference. With such a high standard of play to uphold, having won the previous two UAA tournaments, the Spartans were obviously disappointed with their showing in the tournament.

“There were a lot of mental errors,” said head coach Matt Englander. “We don’t expect perfection, but we didn’t play enough defense and we had a lot of chances that we didn’t cash in.”

The Spartans started the tournament strong, going four for five in their first five games down in Florida. The Spartans bested the Washington University Bears 8-5, Brandeis University Judges 9-2 and crushed the Rochester University Yellowjackets 12-0 in seven innings of play and finished the streak with a high octane offensive win against UAA Baseball newcomer New York University, 13-12. The 12-0 win over Rochester was highlighted by right-handed pitcher Neal Krentz’s no-hitter.

“A few things did go well,” said Englander, “Neal (Krentz) threw a no-hitter, Tony (Antonio) Damiano was great in the outfield and Jordan Swisher was great at the plate.”

However after the 13-12 victory over the New York University Violets, the Spartans dropped the next three games to fall into a second-place tie. The Spartan’s bats dried up as they managed only 10 runs in their final three games, while giving up 24 runs to their opponents. The Spartans left lots of men on base, and a few fielding errors cost them some of the closer contests.

“We made a lot of small mistakes. Those are the things that separate good teams from great teams. We are in a strong conference; we can’t make those mistakes,” said Englander.

The Spartans will be returning to the diamond on Saturday, as they travel to Pennsylvania for a trio of games. The Spartans will take on Ursinus and Pitt.-Bradford on Saturday and follow that up with a rematch with Pitt.-Bradford on Sunday, before switching the schedule on Sunday. The Spartans then play their first games in Ohio, as they face off against Otterbein Tuesday afternoon and then finally return to campus for the home opener on Wednesday in a rematch with Otterbein.
“The field should be all ready for the home opener,” said Englander. “We will be out there for practice, and it should be ready for the game.” The action starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday, and the home opener is at 4 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.

For Copy:
http://athletics.case.edu/sports/bsb/2014-15/schedule
Head: Spring break blues
Subhead: Baseball looking to bounce back from disappoint UAA tournament outcome
Words: 435
By: JP. O’Hagan

For some teams the .500 mark is a goal, a good indicator for the season. The Case Western Reserve University baseball team is not most teams.

The Spartans return from the start of their 2015 campaign and stand at 4-4 and tied for second in the University Athletics Conference. With such a high standard of play to uphold, having won the previous two UAA tournaments, the Spartans were obviously disappointed with their showing in the tournament. “There were a lot of mental errors,” said head coach Matt Englander, “we don’t expect perfection but we didn’t play enough defense and we had a lot of chances that we didn’t cash in.”

The Spartans started the tournament strong going four for five in their first five games down in Florida. The Spartans bested the Washington University Bears 8-5, Brandies University Judges 9-2 and crushed the Rochester University Yellowjackets 12-0 in seven innings of play and finished the streak with a high octane offensive win against UAA Baseball newcomer New York University, 13-12. The 12-0 win over Rochester was highlighted by right handed pitcher Neal Krentz’s no hitter. “A few things did go well,” said Englander, “Neal’s (Krentz) threw a no hitter, Tony (Antonio) Dominano was great in the outfield, and Jordan Swisher was great at the plate.”

However after the 13-12 victory over the New York University Violets the Spartans dropped the next three games to fall into a second place tie. The Spartan’s bats dried up as they managed only 10 runs in their final three games, while giving up 24 runs to their opponents. The Spartans left lots of men on base and a few fielding errors cost them some of the closer contests. “We made a lot of small mistakes. Those are the things that separate good teams from great teams. We are in a strong conference, we can’t make those mistakes,” said Englander.

The Spartans will be returning to the diamond on Saturday as they travel to Pennsylvanian for a trio of games. The Spartans will take on Ursinus and Pitt.-Bradford on Saturday and follow that up with a rematch with Pitt.-Bradford on Sunday. before switching the schedule on Sunday. The Spartans then play their first games in Ohio as they face off against Otterbein Tuesday afternoon and then finally return to campus for the home opener on Wednesday in a rematch with Otterbein. “The field should be all ready for the home opener,” said Englander, “we will be out there for practice and it should be ready for the game.” The action starts at 11:00 AM on Saturday and the home opener is at 4:00 PM on Wednesday afternoon.