UK baseball team learns with losses

February 23, 2009 | Filed under: Sports Features | Posted by:

The last two seasons, the UK men’s baseball team has started on a tear, opening with back-to-back 19-0 starts. After dropping two games this weekend, the Gary Henderson Era hasn’t started the same way.

For a team that is headlined by more question marks than certainties, a weekend tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C., provided the Cats with some answers.

“It points out a lot of things that until you play you don’t really know,” UK baseball head coach Gary Henderson said. “We have to be better at concentrating, controlling the relationship in the batter’s box between batters and pitchers and have the right mindset coming out of the bullpen. Really, the absolute basics of things that define baseball.”

The Cats opened the Caravelle Resort Invitational with a pair of 8-3 victories over Troy and James Madison University. Junior left-handed pitcher James Paxton got the win against Troy, throwing 5.2 innings with six strikeouts. Against JMU, the favorites to win the Colonial Athletic Association according to the league’s head coaches, freshman right-handed pitcher Sean Bouthilette got the win after five shutout innings.

“In the Troy game, it was good to get that first win of the season,” junior catcher Marcus Nidiffer said. “Paxton dominated, his strike-to-ball ratio was unbelievable. Against JMU our freshmen came out and did a good job and filled up the strike zone.”

The Cats couldn’t keep their winning ways though. UK lost both games to No. 22 Coastal Carolina, with star pitcher Chris Rusin starting the second of the two outings, a 14-5 loss. Despite how it appears in the box score, the Cats don’t seem to be discouraged in the least about his performance. Henderson said the Cats gave the Chanticleers a few extra outs with their errors and that the nine-run fifth inning wasn’t all Rusin’s doing.

The Cats will address their needs in the coming week, and believe their first four games will help guide them to what they need to improve upon. One thing different in the opening weekend’s games was the man guiding the way — Henderson. Junior outfielder Keenan Wiley said there was a difference, but it wasn’t anything that disrupted their play in their two losses.

“We have a lot of new guys, who had never done it before, now they know what they’re up against,” Wiley said. “We veterans didn’t help our pitching out too much.”

While you never want to lose a game, Henderson does believe the weekend will be beneficial to the younger members of the team and will serve as a great coaching tool. Henderson said dictating the tempo of the game and having a good plan at the plate are areas that need improvement, but they know what they need to address.

Losing two of their first four games isn’t something the Cats are used to. With a beefed up non-conference schedule, however, the Cats aren’t a team in turmoil right now. During baseball media day, Henderson said he believes the program has developed to a spot where they can take on the better teams in non-league play, and that is why the schedule is much tougher.

“It’s only going to make us better, our non-conference schedule is better than ever,” Wiley said. “They’re out there to beat you, it’s good for us. We’re worried about the postseason, the better teams you play the more you will be prepared.”