The Carleton Ravens baseball team fell 4-3 to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees on Sept. 25 and then 14-10 against Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks and 14-0 against Guelph University Gryphons on Sept. 28th.
With the loss to their city rivals, the teams split the ‘O-Train Series’ at two wins apiece.
Backed by starting pitcher Ray Yang, who allowed just three runs while striking out six through seven-plus innings of work, the Gee-Gees took a commanding 4-1 lead in the third inning and never looked back.
With one on base and one out in the seventh, Ravens centre-fielder Spencer Shelton lined a triple into a gap in left-centre field allowing Jayson Moss-McEachern to earn a run.
The extra-base hit provided to be a brief spark to a Ravens lineup that was rather punchless on the night.
Carleton carried the momentum into the eighth inning, scoring one more run before being shut down by Gee-Gees reliever Adriano Petrangelo in the ninth.
Ravens ace Troy Clarke had an uncharacteristically short outing, lasting just three innings.
Clarke received minimal defensive help in the loss, as all four runs he surrendered were unearned.
But he says that’s just the game of baseball.
“Sometimes all the bounces go your way and sometimes they don’t,” said Clarke. “Obviously you want to go deeper into a game, but sometimes it’s just not your day.”
Despite the tough loss, Clarke said the clubhouse wasn’t overly upset.
“Coaches stayed really positive, kind of pointed out the positive moments,” Clarke added. “There were a lot of nice plays, a lot of good hits, we just didn’t really string at-bats together until the end of the game.”
Moving forward, Ravens assistant coach Michael Heffer said the team needs to put together a stronger defensive effort.
“We had four unearned in the first three or four innings,” said Heffer. “These kinds of unforced errors can’t happen, so tighten up on defense and we’ll be alright.”
The Ravens then travelled to Kitchener, Ont., on Sept. 28 to play against the Golden Hawks and the Gryphons but again could not find a win.
As defending champions, the Golden Hawks were going to be a tough task and though the opponents took an early lead, Carleton was able to fight back.
Over seven innings, the Ravens were able to cut the deficit from 11-4 in the second inning to the final score of 14-10.
Later on that afternoon, the fifth ranked Gryphons put on a dominant performance against the Ravens winning 14-0 and handed the team their fourth straight loss.
Carleton returns to action on Oct. 5 when they play a double header against Queen’s University.
Feature image provided by Laura Burnside.
