Coach Joe Carbone is not about to get too excited over his team's 3-0 record last weekend. Although his team's bats came alive in the three victories, Carbone attributed the success at the plate to the lower quality of pitching the Bobcats faced.
It's improved because we did not see as good of pitching as at Vanderbilt
he said. We have swung the bats better but we are taking too many fastballs for strikes.
The Bobcats will attempt to continue their improvement at the plate today against Cleveland State. Ohio will play its first game at Bob Wren Stadium after last weekend's home games were moved to Chillicothe because of poor field conditions.
All of us really want to get out on our turf because the trip to Chillicothe was not ideal outfielder Willie Walker said. You are used to the setting and background of your home field as well as the home fans.
In Saturday's game against Rio Grande, Walker reached base on his first four plate appearances, scoring three runs and adding two RBIs in the Bobcats 12-6 victory. Walker, who missed the Vanderbilt series, said that his hitting will continue to improve with more at-bats.
I was having trouble picking up the ball at some of the fields that we were at
he said. I really had not seen as much game-time pitching
and the more at-bats I got the more I am used to the flow of things.
Pitcher Kevin Mementowski will start his first game of the season for the Bobcats today. Mementowski said that the cold weather will not affect his pitching routine.
It will be my first appearance of the year and it will be a little nerve-racking
he said. I don't think the cold weather will affect me too much; once you get hot on the mound it will not be a big deal.
Last season the Bobcats lost their only game to Cleveland State at home 6-4. This season the Vikings have a new coaching staff and Carbone said that the game will be decided by both team's pitchers.
It all comes down to our pitching
he said. If they pitch better than us
we are going to have problems.
This week the Bobcats will play five games, and Carbone said he will use the stretch of games to give many players chances to contribute.
We have some positions that we are platooning
he said. We will be running pitchers out there to see who is developing.
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