The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Sports April 13, 2007

Baseball Wins at Home

After a hot start to conference play for the Oberlin baseball team in which it swept Hiram in a four-game series, the Yeomen dropped four games last weekend to the College of Wooster. However, the team bounced back with a walk-off home run win on Tuesday at home, maintaining the team’s undefeated record at Dill Field.

Oberlin traveled to number one ranked Wooster on the weekend of April 6 and lost all four games, dropping its conference record to 4-4. The Fighting Scots (23-0, 11-0) forced the sweep in large part due to their dominant pitching, allowing only four runs total.

While Oberlin was weak offensively, the team also didn’t do itself any favors by committing 11 errors. These led to 14 of the 30 runs Wooster scored in the series being unearned.

Wooster proved why it is the best team in the country, as the team not only played strong offensively but defensively too, committing only five errors, which led to just two unearned runs.

Despite being swept by Wooster, Oberlin is still in good shape for the playoffs, currently sitting second in the NCAC East. Oberlin will travel to third place Kenyon (12-9, 1-4) this weekend for a four-game series where the team had a chance to solidify their second place status.

Oberlin has struggled on the road all season: they are 5-0 at home and 0-8 away. Senior Rick Betzel thinks this was due in part to the environment the fans bring to Dill Field.

“I do know that when we hear fans cheering, hear the hype songs on the PA system, we feel that the fans want us to win and we don’t want to let them down,” said Betzel. “It’s almost as if the fans are willing the performances out of our bodies.”

On Tuesday afternoon Oberlin played a non-conference game against Myers University at home and won in dramatic fashion, which has become trademark of Yeomen baseball this season.

Oberlin was looking good for most of the game thanks in large part to the pitching arm of senior starter Jaremy Rich and the bat of senior Jesse Cullen-Dupont. Rich pitched six innings and gave up two runs, one of which was earned, while striking out five. Cullen-Dupont went 2-3 with a homerun and three RBIs.

Though they were leading 6-3 going into the ninth, the Yeomen briefly fell apart. The team committed an error in the ninth to give Myers an extra out and base runner. With two down in the inning, Myers’s Karl Ferber connected for a three-run homer to tie the game.

Rather than lose focus, the Yeomen responded in spectacular fashion. Betzel led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off home run, the third by an Oberlin batter this season.

When asked if the Yeomen would start winning games by comfortable margins and not have to resort to the dramatics, Betzel responded, “Walk-off bombs excite the people. We’ll stop winning in our last at bat when people stop cheering.”


 
 
   

Powered by