At 4 p.m. on March 26, the Union University baseball team played a competitive opponent: Arkansas Tech University on Fesmire Field. The Bulldogs ended the game with a 11-7 loss and are now 12-18 at the halfway mark of their regular season and 6-12 in the Gulf South Conference.
“We need to learn how to finish games better,” Grant Ross, a sophomore business major and starting first baseman, said. “We need to answer back after a tough inning with both offensive and defensive plays.”
The Bulldogs scored seven runs on 10 hits and three errors. The team peaked offensively in the second inning, scoring four runs out of the seven total. Ross led the team, batting in three runs, including his seventh home run of the season.
“I love hitting home runs,” Ross said.
Starting pitcher Lane Evans allowed five earned runs on six hits to start the game. Pitchers Cole Smith, Brody Mann, Ryan Evans, Chase Spears, Scotty Wyatt and Ethan Orwig all pitched one inning for the bulldogs, but were not able to repair the damage done in the beginning of the game.
After taking a major three-game series loss last weekend against Auburn Montgomery, the Bulldogs are fighting a mid-season slump and are hoping to recover after Tuesday’s loss to Arkansas Tech and eventually turn a corner.
“We are not losing because there is a lack of energy or motivation,” Ross said. “Last year we were run ruled every other game and this year we are losing close games… we are close to turning the corner.”
Coach Casey McGehee is now in the middle of his second season with the Bulldogs as head coach and is hoping to continually improve the inner workings of Union baseball.
“I do believe that either now or in years to come, we are building something special,” McGehee said. “I try to encourage them and let them know that our timing may not be The Lord’s timing, and there are lessons through this that are more important than what a scoreboard says.”
The Bulldogs will host Freed-Hardeman University next week on April 2 at 6 p.m. with expectations of rising from the mid-season slump they are currently experiencing.