The Seattle University baseball season is just beginning, and the team is already winning. Having opened up last season with just two wins in the first ten games, the team is looking much stronger this season, winning five of the past eight games.
The winning record is thanks in large part to the pitching staff, which has been stellar in these early games. In fact, the staff has already earned accolades. According to GoSeattleU.com, sophomore Connor Moore won player of the week for his strong performance against the University of California, Davis Aggies in the season opener. According to the site, “Moore shut down the UC Davis Aggies for seven innings, giving up only three hits and one walk while striking out a career-high six batters.”
However, the spotlight among the pitchers isn’t dominated by just one player—it’s being shared. In a recent win over the Cal State Northridge Matadors, Moore, Grant Gunning, Garrett Anderson and Will Dennis put together a pitching performance that allowed the Hawks to stay in the game and come from behind for a 4-2 win over the Matadors.
“[Pitching Coach Elliot Cribby] has done a great job of establishing roles for our staff. The relief has been great at keeping us in games,” said head coach Donny Harrel. “Will Dennis on the back end has been outstanding. Not a single left-handed hitter has gotten a hit off of him.”
The team is also getting help on the offensive side of things. In two recent wins, the Redhawks were able to come from behind and score runs late in the game in order to win. While this is due in part to the pitching staff, which has been able to keep games by allowing limited runs, it is impossible to deny that the Seattle U offense has had its fair share of heroics.
In a rubber match game against Cal State Northridge on Feb. 23, the Hawks were able to put together a seventh inning rally that tied the game at one. With a runner on second, Cash McGuire hit a ground rule double to score Brock Carpenter. Seattle U then blew the game open, scoring three runs in the eighth to put an exclamation point on the win.
“The cohesiveness of the team seems stronger than in the past. The older guys are taking the younger guys under their wings and that leadership is huge for the comfort level of the team as a whole,” Harrel said. “We’ve really had freshman step up, Carpenter and Finfer and Mccann who have contributed early, and that is due in large part to the leadership they’re seeing.”
The team looks good coming into a home stand against a highly-ranked Cal Poly squad.
“We’re excited about how the road started,” Harrel said. “Hopefully we get some fans out here while we’re here in Seattle, because as you know it’s important to dominate when you’re playing at home.”
