Issue date: 3/21/08 Section:  Link

While most students exited Indiana for a relaxing break, the baseball team went to work. They traveled through North Carolina and Virginia over Spring Break, playing 14 games and winning 10 of them. Overall, they boast a 14-4 record.

As they did in their opening series at Virginia State, the Crimson Hawks came out with a potent offensive attack. As of last week, the team averaged nearly 10 runs and 13 hits per game.

Sophomore Paul Bingham and senior Shawn Schwarz have been on fire. Each has been hitting more than .500. Bingham is riding a 12-game hitting streak; Schwarz leads the team in total bases, slugging percentage and RBI. And Coach Jeff Ditch believes these two are his hottest hitters.

"Sean has been on a roll since the beginning of the year, and Paul is carrying over from his freshmen year, so those two are the ones hitting the most consistent. But overall, I believe there are eight to 10 guys who have been getting it done with the bats," Ditch said.

However, their pitching is not to be overlooked. Senior Dan Snyder has the pitching staff off to a great start. Co-Captain Snyder started the season 4-0. He has given up only seven earned runs, striking out 12 and walking three in 19 innings thus far.

"We've played a lot of good teams but our offense has been the key. Our run support has been great. I'm pretty confident with our staff. We're excited and right now we're well on pace for our goal of 30 wins, and I believe it is very achievable," Snyder said.

Snyder will graduate in May with a degree in safety sciences. He has a job waiting for him in Houston with Chevron working with safety in the Gulf of Mexico on a rig.

The hot start has the Crimson Hawks ranked 30th in the nation in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll as of March 18. Ditch thinks this great start and ranking will help give his team great confidence with conference play coming up soon.

"Anytime you can win 14 of your first 18 you're excited about that. Most importantly our team has confidence now. We just need to continue to get better as a group and keep that going as we begin to play our Pennsylvania competition."

The team puts their four-game winning streak on the line as they travel to Millersville for a doubleheader Saturday.